“We now sell fewer lots but are more curated and this has led to the rise in sell-through rates.”
Orlando Rock, UK chairman of Christie’s, commented on its half-year results. He also commented that “there is a great market” for masterpieces of any period, including Old Masters.
“The interest in this lot was phenomenal with bidders, on the phone, from all over the world – I was absolutely staggered how people were competing to buy this fascinating collection and even more gob-smacked by the price it achieved.”
Auctioneer Catherine Southon following the sale of a Suffragette hunger strike medal to the National Museum Wales. It made a house-record hammer price of £40,000, four times its high estimate.
“Whilst we could have persevered in our efforts to show that as a matter of law, we have good title to the relief, we decided that in the public interest, the relief should return to Persepolis, a World Heritage site.”
Dealers Rupert Wace and Sam Fogg on their decision to return a Persian limestone relief sculpture seized from the former’s stand at TEFAF New York last year.
“This change comes as a response to overwhelming feedback from our dealers and clients, typically interior designers, who want to work with an online marketplace that operates in a way that’s more transparent and mutually beneficial than our competition such as 1st Dibs.”
Tanya Southworth, founder of Kairos Collective, which has revised its trading model and ceased charging a commission for each sale. It now operates by charging a subscription fee.
“As a matter of Italian law as at 14th February 2017 the claimant [Simonis] was required to apply and obtain a new certificate of free movement in order to export the painting from Italy to London. She did not do so or obtain one.”
Justice Carr of the High Court, who rejected a collector's claim on an export licence to remove a rediscovered Giotto painting from the UK to Switzerland.
