Latest News Articles by Laura Chesters
Stolen ancient bronze recovered 40 years later and returned to China
07 February 2024A 2900-year-old Chinese bronze vessel that was stolen 40 years ago has been returned to China following a repatriation ceremony.
New hires, promotions and expansions across antiques dealers and auction houses
07 February 2024Movers and Shakers across the world of art and antiques.
Piano Auctions to sell in Holland after Brexit
05 February 2024The impact of Brexit on UK overseas trade has led one auction house to open a saleroom in the Netherlands.
Props from Netflix’s The Crown are among five lots to watch
05 February 2024With estimates from £3000, here are five previews of upcoming items.
UK buyer sought for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Polar medal
02 February 2024A temporary export block has been placed on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s polar medal in the hope a buyer in the UK can pay £1.7m.
Bag of coins donated to charity shop contained rare 19th century Australian specimen
02 February 2024A bag of coins donated to Oxfam in Orpington, Kent, contained an Australian New South Wales coin dating to 1813 which is valued at up to £7000.
Mark Knopfler guitar auction makes more than £7m at Christie’s
01 February 2024A six-hour sale of 122 lots from the collection of singer-songwriter and Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler took £7.01m (or £8.84m including buyer’s premium).
Bayeux Museum buys Victorian replica of the famous tapestry from the collection of Rolling Stones drummer
31 January 2024The Bayeux Museum in France has bought a life-size Victorian replica of the Bayeux tapestry from the Charlie Watts sale.
Harrison Ford’s Star Wars scripts found in his former London flat come to auction
31 January 2024A group of scripts, notes and letters from Hollywood actor Harrison Ford, discovered in a Notting Hill flat he rented, are coming to auction.
Appeal for statues stolen from Salford church
31 January 2024A group of statues from a church in Salford have been stolen.
Louvre buys Vénus de Milo cast at auction
30 January 2024The Louvre Museum has used its pre-emption right to successfully secure a 19th century cast of the Vénus de Milo at Artcurial.
William Shakespeare, Samuel Pepys and Charles Dickens feature in part two of the famed Foyle family library sale
30 January 2024The second part of the auction of The Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey is returning to Dominic Winter Auctioneers.
Sotheby’s reveals sales total of $7.9bn for 2023
29 January 2024Sotheby’s revealed its full-year results for 2023, revealing consolidated sales of $7.9bn (£6.2bn), just a touch down on the $8bn of 2022.
Hard work pays off as Sheffield auction house expands to four salerooms
29 January 2024Sheffield Auction Gallery has expanded its salerooms in the city’s Windsor Road to add a further 3000 sq ft.
New auction records for under-represented artists as museums show purchasing power
29 January 2024The desire by top museums to buy works by under-represented groups, including women and minority ethnic artists, has led to two new auction records in the US.
Interior designers target traditional antiques at Battersea's Decorative Fair
29 January 2024Traditional antiques are very much still in demand, according to reports from dealers at Battersea’s winter Decorative Fair.
Mark Knopfler's Gibson guitar and pair of torchère figures are among five lots to watch
29 January 2024With estimates from £200, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
New faces at auction houses in the UK and overseas
25 January 2024A new director at a West Sussex firm and expansion in Sheffield are among the latest Movers & Shakers across the world of art and antiques.
Betty Boothroyd’s dispatch box and brooch entice bidders at memorabilia auction
23 January 2024Politics fans and admirers competed for items from the estate of Betty Boothroyd (1929-2023), the first female Speaker of the House of Commons.
Treasure finds hit new high as metal detecting continues to pay off
23 January 2024More than 53,000 archaeological finds were recorded in the latest annual report, which included 1378 Treasure cases, the highest ever reported in a single year.