Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Suffragettes in sashes replace snakes and ladders for board game up at auction
13 March 2018The suffragette memorabilia collecting market throws up some pretty strange items at times but few can be more unusual than the board game Pank-a-Squith.
Lord Ashcroft buys Sidney Day Victoria Cross medal group at Dix Noonan Webb auction
08 March 2018While the record-breaking Victoria Cross medal sold in November last year may have eluded him, Lord Ashcroft is far from inactive when it comes to buying more of these honours for his medals gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London.
People on the move - latest appointments
07 March 2018A round-up of people in the news across the art and antiques world.
Fred Dibnah heritage centre contents to be sold at auction
06 March 2018I interviewed Fred Dibnah once, as a wet-behind-the-ears journalism student in Preston. He had just come down from the third-tallest church spire in the country at St Walburge’s, which dominates the city skyline at 309ft high.
First Doctor Who script up at auction
05 March 2018The script for the very first Doctor Who episode owned by the first actor to play the role is coming up at auction in the West Midlands.
Tiffany tiles tempt US bid
05 March 2018A fresh-to-market consignment involving great names of Art Nouveau/Arts & Crafts and a New York buyer determined to have it… It hasn’t taken long for newcomer Heliers Auction (18% buyer’s premium) to come up with the sort of winning combination all auctioneers hope for.
Rolex made famous by Steve McQueen makes house record hammer price at Dudley saleroom Aston's
01 March 2018A Rolex of the model made famous after being worn by King of Cool Steve McQueen has set a house record at West Midlands saleroom Aston’s Auctioneers.
Brunel technical drawing instruments are sharp seller at auction
28 February 2018Brunel stories are like buses. Or maybe horse buses, considering the era. None for ages then all at once.
Doctor Who script for very first episode owned by William Hartnell comes up at auction
27 February 2018The original Doctor Who script for the first-ever Doctor Who episode is something always likely to attract high demand at auction. Chuck in the fact that it was used and owned by the very first Doctor Who actor, William Hartnell, and it just gets better and better.
Gertrude Bell furnishings on offer at Tennants
26 February 2018Furnishings that were once part of the family home of Gertrude Bell, one of the most fascinating figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are coming up at auction at Tennants in North Yorkshire on March 17.
Brunel Museum to use Thames Tunnel archive bought at Bonhams as centrepiece of its expansion plans
26 February 2018A fascinating archive of designs for Brunel’s Thames Tunnel sold at Bonhams was bought by a museum dedicated to the pioneering structure to form the centrepiece of a £4.5m expansion, it has been revealed.
The First World War Victoria Cross winner whose tea rooms were bombed to bits in the Second World War
23 February 2018Having suffered five wounds and been taken prisoner in the First World War, fortune could have smiled more favourably on Victoria Cross winner Corporal Sidney Day by the time the 1939-45 conflict came around.
Concorde nose cone set to soar at auction
20 February 2018A saleroom that sold a selection of items related to the Dambusters has moved on about 30 years for its latest aviation lot: a nose cone from Concorde.
Islamic specialist boosts DNW coin department
19 February 2018Tim Wilkes, a leading expert in Islamic coinage, has joined the coin department at London auction house Dix Noonan Webb.
Bonhams New York offers eight-page Isaac Newton manuscript
19 February 2018Among the lots offered in the March 9 Books and Manuscripts auction at Bonhams New York is an Isaac Newton work now with parallels to the rather more modern Harry Potter books.
Great hopes for 'The Great Gatsby' at Heritage Auctions
19 February 2018A signed and inscribed first edition of F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has hopes of selling for as much as $100,000 in Heritage Auctions’ Rare Book auction on March 7 in New York.
French sabre presented by Lafayette in Pennsylvania sale
19 February 2018Morphy Auctions’ March 1-2 Premier Firearms Sale in Denver, Pennsylvania, includes various other militaria categories, such as edged weapons.
First World War imperial German militaria collection so huge it is being sold in three parts at C&T Auctioneers
15 February 2018If it takes two auctions to offer a single-owner collection, you know it must be a big one. If it takes three, it must really be quite something.
Charlie Chaplin letter to young fan who dressed up as the great star comes to auction
14 February 2018Hero worship is not just a modern-day phenomenon. Back in 1915, Charlie Chapman was so impressed by a fan letter he received that he sent a personal reply.
Latest auction house appointments
13 February 2018A round-up of people in the news, in UK and US salerooms.