Auctioneers

Plastic money has been a bone of contention recently thanks to the strange revelation that the new UK £5 notes include animal fat. But one day the polymer notes will surely be as normal and accepted as the existing paper examples, assuming physical money has not all but disappeared anyway by then.

A newly-discovered drawing that has been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci will be offered by Paris auctioneers Tajan next year, estimated at €15m (£9.62m).

If you want to imagine what a bulletproof vest might look like if designed in the 16th century, a couple of fascinating pieces of very rare armour bought by the Victoria & Albert Museum give a clue.

If a Chanel snow globe, a Fabergé bracelet or a blue table by Yves Klein are on the list for Father Christmas this year then head to Christie’s Paris showroom this weekend.

As you peruse this story on your computer, smartphone or tablet, take a look at the keyboard on said devices and spare a thought for the Rev Rasmus Malling-Hansen (1835-90).

“Zulus, Sir. Thousands of ‘em”  - one of the classic lines from the 1964 film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine that brought the heroic defence of Rorke’s Drift to public attention.

In our weekend series, Antiques Trade Gazette brings you a selection of quotes from dealers, auctioneers, collectors and others – from ivory inlays to a tsunami.

Uniforms can be a hard sell at militaria auctions. Medals for example are nice and easy to display, while guns can sit high on the wall or in a cabinet, but what do you do with a full set of battledress unless you happen to be a re-enactor or happen to live in a mansion with lots of room for mannequins?

Medals specialist David Erskine-Hill has left Dix Noonan Webb to rejoin former employer Spink.

The withdrawal of two key works dented the overall total at Christie’s evening sale of Old Masters last night. However, some spirited bidding did emerge on a number of lots which helped lift proceedings.

A preparatory sketch by John Constable was knocked down for £720,000 at Bonhams earlier today.

This stoneware vase designed by Henry Van De Velde for Reinhold Hanke was sold at Mallams in Oxford earlier today for £17,000.

In September last year Wayne Rooney hit his 48th goal for England, overtaking at last Sir Bobby Charlton’s scoring record. But the achievements of a much earlier England star will be celebrated on December 15 thanks to an auction in Cornwall.

Sotheby’s Old Master evening sale in London last night was somewhat short of stellar works but the auction registered a decent performance for the material on offer.

Christie’s contemporary art chief Brett Gorvy is leaving the firm to become an art advisor.

An imposing brass alloy figure of Canda Vajrapani set an auction record for a Tibetan sculpture when it was knocked down at HK$42.5m (£4.34m) at Bonhams Hong Kong.

Star Wars, Action Man and plastic soldiers are just three of the toy collectable fields growing in demand as buyers get all nostalgic about their childhoods. Another biggie in this market is Lego.

Christie’s is officially turning 250 years old today.

Sotheby’s has bought scientific research specialist Orion Analytical to "help to make the art market a safer place".

Some good old-fashioned saleroom drama ensued at Ewbank’s of Send in Surrey on December 1 when a tribal art necklace estimated at £60-100 sold to a buyer from Continental Europe at £99,000 (plus 22.5% premium).