UK

Logistics firm DHL is to change its policy on shipping knives and other bladed articles from March 1, applying a ban on carrying blades over 8in (20.3cm) long on its Express service.

This Dutch East Indies gold mounted tortoiseshell betel box hammered at £15,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) on the opening day of the sale held by Mellors & Kirk in Nottingham on February 11-12.

The fashion for eye miniatures – or lover’s eyes – is said to have begun with a politically and socially unacceptable royal affair.

Treasure finds in the UK are at an all-year high, a report has found.

A gentleman (Dukatenscheißer) with his trousers pulled down excreting a gilt metal coin from his bottom or a composition nodder of a grotesque women beating a child might not be for everyone.

Huddersfield dealer who started out in the trade 35 years ago talks of current selling trends

Estimated at £200-300 but sold for £4200 at Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) in Sherborne, Dorset, were two design books from the Royal Doulton workshop floor.

A 16th century bible in German was the most expensive book sold at auction in the UK in December.

Paintings depicting humble carpenter and not-so-humble locksmith benefit from market freshness

Celebrities and politicians are often spotted hunting for antiques at fairs, markets and centres including singer Taylor Swift who is a fan of Portobello Road Market and Boris and Carrie Johnson, seen recently at Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Park.

A stylised still-life by Robert Colquhoun (1914-62) was one of a number of good quality Scottish pictures generating interest at a recent sale at Taylors Auctions (26% buyer’s premium) in Montrose, Angus.

Anti-money laundering (AML) compliance specialist for the art world, FCS Compliance (Art Division), has announced a free webinar for art market participants (AMPs) outlining new sanctions obligations that come into force in May 2025.

Sir Bruno Welby (b.1928), a member of both the English Ceramic Circle and the French Porcelain Society, has bought European porcelain since the 1950s.

The London Original Print Fair (LOPF) will be celebrating its 40th birthday when it opens at Somerset House from March 20-23.

The Sir Bruno Welby collection (see main story in this edition) sold at Woolley & Wallis shone the spotlight on two familiar names from the early English porcelain literature: Jefferyes Hamett O’Neale (1719/20-97) and Fidelle Duvivier (1740-after 1796).

Mikaela and Roger Boon’s well-supported biannual vintage fair in the village of Wilton, near Salisbury, has its first outing of the year on Saturday, March 1, in the Michael Herbert Hall.