UK

The United Kingdom accounts for more than one fifth of the global art market sales and is the second biggest art market after the US.

Through auctioneers, dealers, fairs and markets - and a burgeoning online sector - buyers, collectors and sellers of art and antiques can easily access a vibrant network of intermediaries and events around the country. The UK's museums also house a wealth of impressive collections

img_30-3.jpg

Lifelong friends paired up at Eames

24 August 2020

The lithographs of Alexander Calder (1898-1976) and Joan Miró (1893-1983) feature at Eames Fine Art’s exhibition Miró and Calder: Simpatico, which runs until August 30.

img_14-1.jpg

Bottle vase supplies a £55,000 Chinese surprise

24 August 2020

Solid selling punctuated by a number of estimate-eclipsing bids made the July 17-18 sale a very welcome return to business for Tennants (20% buyer’s premium).

img_16-6.jpg

Bronze deity makes a jumbo price

24 August 2020

In Tibetan Buddhism the elephant-headed deity Vignataka is treated with considerable ambivalence.

img_18-3.jpg

Even Old Masters have to wait

24 August 2020

Leading works held back until mixed-category July auctions in a drawn-out sales season.

img_22-4.jpg

Golden oldies: abbey archive and penitential work for preachers

24 August 2020

Sold at £140,000 in the first of two early manuscript sales held by Bloomsbury Auctions (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on July 8 was a lot featured in the front page story in ATG No 2447.

img_23-1.jpg

Through the Glasgow looking glass

24 August 2020

Featured in Previews, ATG No 2449, was an amusing illustration of the Vacuum Tube, a proposed new means of mass transport from the pages of the Glasgow Looking Glass, a publication that has come to be widely regarded as the world’s first comic.

img_13-4.jpg

Politicians on the saleroom menu

24 August 2020

Estimated at £100-200 but sold for £2800 at Thomas Watson (25% buyer’s premium) in Darlington on August was a set of four Worcester parian menu holders.

img_16-3.jpg

Five O’Clock means it is time for Belleek

24 August 2020

Around the year 1904, during the Second Period of Belleek production in Fermanagh, Ulster, designer William Harris designed the Five O’Clock pattern.

img_22-3.jpg

Thomson takes pride

24 August 2020

Firsts of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have made as much as £115,000* at auction.

img_30-1.jpg

Hurt shows his herd instinct

24 August 2020

Artist who kept highland cattle at Midlands home to pose for romanticised Scottish scenes.

gandhi-glasses-2.jpg

'Gandhi' spectacles take £260,000 at Bristol auction

21 August 2020

A pair of spectacles, believed to have once belonged to Gandhi, were hammered down at £260,000 in Bristol (plus 21.6% buyer's premium inc VAT).

Minton majolica figure

Minton majolica bear that once appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow stars in our pick of five auction highlights sold this week

21 August 2020

ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a Minton majolica dancing bear that sold for four-times estimate in Surrey.

David Jones.jpg

Love letters from Welsh artist and poet David Jones go under the hammer

19 August 2020

Letters written by the painter David Jones (1895-1974) are coming to auction today at Bonhams.

STFSC_building2.jpg

Antiques degree course reopens after it is saved from cancellation

18 August 2020

An antiques degree course run by the University of Central Lancashire in Preston has been reinstated.

img_1-1.jpg

Dealers sell Egyptian statue from Thomas Cook collection to City of Leicester for £150,000

17 August 2020

An ancient Egyptian granite statue has been sold to the City of Leicester from the collection of travel business Thomas Cook in a deal negotiated by London dealers Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch.

2455NE Ivory Supreme court.jpg

Ivory Act: no more challenges to new law says Supreme Court

17 August 2020

The Ivory Act 2018 is now expected to come into effect this year after dealers and collectors of antique ivory were refused a final appeal.

img_4-1.jpg

Rothschild taste adds to record Salisbury total

17 August 2020

A group of works of art from a country home once owned by members of the Rothschild family boosted the latest Woolley & Wallis auction.

img_5-1.jpg

New format Asian Art in London brings more emphasis on Islamic and Indian works

17 August 2020

Asian Art in London (AAL) is returning this year with a new format that splits the long-running event between Indian and Islamic art and east Asian art.

Scotland tightens the rules on face coverings at auctions

17 August 2020

The Scottish government has updated its guidance on face coverings.

img_8-1.jpg

Pick of the week: Tiny box with calligraphy from the ‘Little man of Nuremberg’ who excelled at micro masterpieces

17 August 2020

Matthias Buchinger (1674-1740), the so-called ‘Little Man of Nuremberg’, was just 2ft 5in (74cm) tall. Born in Ansbach without legs and having truncated arms without fingers, he nonetheless excelled at many occupations associated with physical dexterity.

News

Categories