London


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Umayyad gold dinar equalled auction record for an Islamic coin

10 February 2020

This rare Umayyad gold dinar dated 105AH (723AD) equalled the auction record for an Islamic coin (or any coin sold in Europe) when it was hammered down at £3.1m at Morton & Eden (20% buyer’s premium).

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Bonhams sell medal marking lifesaving bravery

10 February 2020

This bronze Albert Medal, awarded to Lieutenant John Edward Gibbons (1905-71) for saving life at sea, sold for £8000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Bonhams Knightsbridge.

‘A la rencontre du plaisir’ by René Magritte

René Magritte surrealist scene lifts Christie’s modern art auction in London

07 February 2020

Auction records for Tamara de Lempicka and George Grosz boosted Christie’s latest Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art evening sales in London but it was a surrealist scene by René Magritte that made the largest contribution to the night’s total.

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George Medal awarded to brave boxer who foiled Princess Anne kidnap comes to auction

06 February 2020

When a kidnap attempt was made on Princess Anne on the Mall in London it was handy that nearby was a brave 6ft 2in, 17 stone former heavyweight boxer who without thought for his own safety rushed to her aid.

Sotheby's auction Camille Pissarro

Recovered works top Sotheby’s modern art auction

06 February 2020

Pictures restored to the family of an important Jewish collector whose property had been seized by the Nazis led Sotheby’s latest evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in London.

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Antiques trade 'lagging behind on promoting its green credentials', celebrity interior designer says

05 February 2020

A leading interior designer will tell a gathering of antiques dealers next month that the trade has been slow to promote antiques as reused items – at a time when sustainability and climate change dominate political and commercial agendas.

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Appeal to trade to help find Regency clock stolen from Kensington antiques dealer

04 February 2020

An early 19th century mahogany bracket clock has been stolen from the shop of dealer Patrick Sandberg on Kensington Church Street.

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Super-realist paintings on show in Cecil Court

03 February 2020

This acrylic on canvas, 8 Duncan Terrace (1977), by artist Graham Dean is on offer at Darnley Fine Art.

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Vintage Valentine cards: a regular sight at ephemera fairs

03 February 2020

A clever piece of marketing from the oil company Shell and with slightly saucy automobile-referenced lines, this Valentine dates from a tradition of sending cards to Shell’s female customers who had accounts at their garages. This ran from 1938-75, apart from an interruption during the war years.

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'Only known copy' of Blaeu's first pocket globe makes treble-estimate at Christie’s

03 February 2020

Willem Janszoon Blaeu is one of the more famous names in the history of map and globe making and at Christie’s (25/20/13.5/% buyer’s premium), the tiny pocket globe attributed to him shown here was sold for a treble-estimate £230,000.

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The renowned teddy bear expert who has overcome an allergy to soft toys’ fur

03 February 2020

For a man who has built his career around teddy bears it is a strange quirk of fate that these inoffensive toys make him feel unwell.

Donne ownership explains high price

03 February 2020

In ATG No 2427 we noted the sale at Sotheby’s on December 10, at a very much higher than expected £50,000, of a rare copy of the 1553 translation into ‘Scots English’ of Virgil’s Aeneid by Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld.

Pushkin satire bites at auction

03 February 2020

Extraordinarily high prices paid for the works of the Russian writer Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev were noted in ATG No 2425, and there were many more lots of interest in the sale held by Christie’s (25/20/13.5% buyer’s premium) in which they were offered.

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Grotesque figures on 16th century engraving delight a buyer

03 February 2020

Populated with grotesque figures, this 16th century engraving after the early Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516) sold for £16,000 at auction in London.

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Views of a vanishing world: Supply of mountain paintings begins to melt

03 February 2020

Nineteen years after launching the annual 'Peaks and Glaciers' exhibition, dealer William Mitchell reflects that as the snow on the peaks themselves has contracted, so too has the supply of topographical Alpine scenes.

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Early printed copies of Shakespeare’s plays impress as part of a celebrated collection

03 February 2020

‘Masterpieces’ from the celebrated collections of Dr Martin Schøyen offered at a recent Christie’s (25/20/13.5% buyer’s premium) sale in London included some real rarities.

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Textiles come to the fore with London Art Fair sales and new exhibition

28 January 2020

Long considered outside the mainstream of art history, textiles have had a boost in London this month.

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Antique arms fair moves from Olympia to Hammersmith

27 January 2020

The arms fair held in the Pillar Hall in Olympia is moving to another venue in west London which provides greater space.

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Byronic collection offered at Chiswick Auctions

27 January 2020

Chiswick Auctions will offer a single-owner collection of memorabilia relating to the second generation English Romantic poet, George Gordon Byron (1788-1824).

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Cartier desk clock collection at Bonhams shows evolution of design

27 January 2020

John Benjamin reviews the sale of an exceptional collection of desk clocks and Cartier jewels at Bonhams.

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