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

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Winter wonderland – vintage skiing and skating poster selection at auction

24 December 2019

Christmas is around the corner and for some a spot of skiing or skating may be on the cards.

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British Museum is third time lucky to buy 1000-year-old seal matrix

23 December 2019

A rare Saxon walrus ivory seal matrix will go back on display in the British Museum – after the institution missed out on buying the object twice before.

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Walking cane once owned by controversial Titanic survivor comes to auction in Cornwall

23 December 2019

A walking cane once owned by Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon (1862-1931), a controversial Titanic survivor, is to be offered at auction in Cornwall.

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Second ‘lost’ Marlborough gem sparkles in Cambridge

23 December 2019

An intaglio ring became the second of the ‘lost’ Marlborough jewels to surface at auction in 2019 when it sold for £36,000 (plus 22.5% premium) in Cambridge.

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Royal Copenhagen in Newcastle

23 December 2019

This 12½in (31cm) Royal Copenhagen blanc de chine vase offered by Newcastle’s Anderson & Garland (22% buyer’s premium) on December 5 has an underglaze ‘three waves’ mark dating to c.1870-90.

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Games of genius and Uncle Sam

23 December 2019

Among the selection of instructional games and pastimes featured at Forum Auctions (25/12/12% buyer’s premium) on November 21 two of the more successful lots were published by Edward Wallis.

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M marks the Mauretania

23 December 2019

Holding for 22 years the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing, the great Cunard liner RMS Mauretania is a magical name for collectors of maritime memorabilia.

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Japanese snake slithers beside maps and cup

23 December 2019

Alongside two key early maps of colonial North America (see News, ATG No 2422) the sale at Ramsay Cornish (20% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on December 7 was distinguished by five-figure bids for two rare items.

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Pick of the week: Faraday iron filings create a magnetic pull on bidders

23 December 2019

Michael Faraday’s laboratory notebook from 1851 includes a series of diagrams illustrating what he called ‘magnetic lines of force’ – the magnetic field lines that are central to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.

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Life’s a simple beach for Boudin

23 December 2019

“I will always be a painter of beaches,” declared Eugène Boudin (1824-98) in 1864.

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A true travel treasure trove

23 December 2019

Egypt views stand out among a selection also involving many other worldwide works

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Take a tour of 103 European cities

23 December 2019

Bid to £3000 at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) on November 20 was a rare and early game.

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Prepare to be bowled over in Yorks

23 December 2019

The first event of the year for Galloway Antiques Fairs is its local event in Harrogate.

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Treen with the Trafalgar touch

23 December 2019

Tucked inside an18th century treen model of a ship’s hull is a historic note reading This was taken out of a writing bureau belonging to Lord Collingwood. I saw the bureau and know its history.

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Spaniel sniffs out snuff

23 December 2019

Matthew Barton (25% buyer’s premium) attracted international interest in this early-19th century German gold snuff box at his November 20 London sale.

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Airfix D-Day advance to four figures

23 December 2019

A recent sale at C&T in Tunbridge Wells included an unexpected bid of £1700 (estimate £50-70) for three unopened Airfix models.

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Cricketers team up for a single lot

23 December 2019

While individuals and pairs from the suite of five bronze cricketers by Joseph Durham (1814-77) are occasionally seen on the rostrum, it is rare to find all five appearing together.

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Byron carves out card case role

23 December 2019

This Victorian mother-of-pearl and abalone shell card case is carved with a portrait of George Lord Byron, the most flamboyant and notorious of the major English Romantic poets.

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Medals make a fine lifesaving tribute

23 December 2019

A story of extraordinary peacetime gallantry of a Cumbrian seaman turned coalminer was at the heart of a group of medals, photographs and press cuttings offered at Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) at Colchester on November 28.

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Chair’s Elisabeth Frink link

23 December 2019

Items from the estate of the Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930-93) were included in the Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Sherborne, Dorset, on November 14-15.

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