2013

A painting by Chaim Soutine (1893-1943) entitled ‘Le petit pâtissier’ was the top lot of Christie’s latest evening sale of Impressionist & Modern art in New York.

Although taught by Bernard Cuzner at the St Margaret School of Art and a contemporary of both Dorrie Nossiter and Katie Eadie, George Edward Hunt (1892-1960) is not the best-known jeweller of the Birmingham Group.

Pearls and coloured stones remain strong – but, fuelled by interest from China (and, to a lesser, extent, the Middle East), so does amber.

Paul Cézanne’s ‘Les pommes’ led the way at Sotheby’s latest evening sale of Impressionist & Modern Art in New York.

Some of the galleries affected by redevelopment in Cork Street, Mayfair, have been given hope that they can move back once the work is completed.

The manager of a Hampshire auction house which collapsed owing money and goods to hundreds of consignors has failed to secure new saleroom premises less than ten miles away.

Standing in the same spot where he had placed the winning £3.25m bid for an Egyptian statue of Isis six months before, London dealer Daniel Katz was again in action at Christie’s South Kensington’s latest antiquities sale.

The ambitious project that made 210,000 publicly-owned oil, tempera and acrylic paintings available to view online for free has taken another important step forward thanks to winning £125,000 funding.

It has a face value of ten shillings but a price tag of Aus$3.5m (£2.3m) at Coinworks, the specialist dealers and auctioneers of Melbourne.

Two auction houses are joining forces in the latest shake-up to affect the Melbourne scene.

Last week was a busy one for glass and ceramics in the London rooms with five auctions taking place over the space of 48 hours and some bullish prices for top pieces.

Paris auctioneers Gros & Delettrez have announced the sale of 350 lots of haute couture from Danielle Luquet de Saint Germain, muse to the late Yves Saint Laurent in the 1960s, and later an artistic advisor at Dior.

The original autograph draft manuscript for Gerard Manley Hopkins’ 1879 poem ‘Binsey Poplars’ has been acquired by the Bodleian Libraries.

A single pearl-drop earring worn by Charles I at his execution in 1649, a maharaja’s coat richly embroidered with pearls c.1870, and a necklace of cultured pearls given to Marilyn Monroe by Joe DiMaggio in 1954 – all part of an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum this autumn.

Fellows’ latest quarterly Vintage & Modern Wristwatch auction included a rare 1940s Rolex Oyster, the so-called ‘monobloc’ chronograph.

Art dealer Hillel ‘Helly’ Nahmad, the high-profile owner of the Helly Nahmad Gallery in New York, has been named on a list of people charged with running an illegal gambling business.

The Mishneh Torah was withdrawn from a recent Sotheby’s sale at the eleventh hour after vendors Michael and Judy Steinhard struck a private treaty sale with The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Pinault family, owners of Christie’s and the luxury goods group PPR, are to hand back to China the two Qianlong bronzes that caused great upset when offered for sale in Paris four years ago.

One of the highlights of the latest raft of Islamic auctions in London was an unusual half-moon-shaped 10th/11th century granite temple step from Sri Lanka which had spent years in a Devon garden.