Auctioneers

after months of pre-sale coverage in the media, the two recently rediscovered panels of Dominican saints from Fra Angelico’s celebrated 1438-40 high altarpiece for the Church of San Marco in Florence finally came under the hammer at Duke’s of Dorchester last Thursday, when they fetched £1.7m.

Bonhams have joined the push for Middle Eastern business by announcing the opening of a sales office in Dubai with a first auction scheduled for early November.

One of the highlights of the recent Islamic sale series in London was this 2ft 4in (74cm) high, mid-19th century signed white marble bust of Maharajah Duleep Singh by John Gibson RA.

The future of Christie’s South Kensington’s collectibles department is currently under discussion.

Sotheby’s will launch a premium credit card later this spring. The Sotheby’s World and Sotheby’s World Elite cards are the product of a partnership between Mastercard and American finance house GE Money who hope to use Sotheby’s status as a luxury brand to attract high-net worth cardholders.

The Asian art juggernaut thunders on with little sign of any slowdown in the market. If anything, the pace seems to be intensifying.

After months of speculation, the fate of Dumfries House, the Adam-designed and Chippendale-furnished Scottish Palladian house and estate in Ayrshire looks to be sealed.

Building work is expected to begin soon at Summers Place, Billingshurst after planning permission was granted to convert the former Sotheby’s saleroom into residential dwellings and office space.

The subject matter of this mid-14th century gold ground may be unfamiliar to many, but that is no surprise – the treatment is thought to be unique in early Italian painting.

Founding partner Rémy Le Fur has left ArtCurial, where he was in charge of sales of furniture and objets d’art, and notably secured the prestigious Rossignol Collection, the most important furniture sale in Paris during the 2005-06 season.

The Birmingham industrialist and designer Matthew Boulton was the toast of the Paris salerooms last week when this impressive ormolu-mounted fluorspar vase was sold at Drouot Richelieu for €170,000 (£121,430) plus premium.

Dreweatt Neate Neales in Nottingham will hold the first of a series of sales for Oxfam on April 19. Recent visitors to the charity’s website or one of its network of 750 high street shops may have noticed the launch of ‘Valued at Oxfam’.

Sotheby’s – who were outsold by Christie’s in Paris last year three to one – have announced a series of moves designed to reposition their Paris branch as “one of the pillars of the group’s global strategy”.

Cambridge auctioneers Cheffins are to offer a recently rediscovered archive of slides that depict the daredevil Malcolm Campbell in his pomp.

The highlight of the English and Continental furniture and objects sale conducted Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh on March 21 was this walnut, rosewood veneered, satinwood crossbanded and parcel gilt side table c.1805.

Halls auctioneer Jeremy Lamond expected the relaunch of his Shrewsbury saleroom to be the biggest challenge of the month. But a small box of antiques consigned for sale soon changed that.

MORE details have emerged of how Sotheby’s are repositioning themselves to compete at the top end of the art market.

Buyers and sellers in collusion case set for $93.5m pay day

On March 6, amid a scrum of journalists and anoraks, Bonhams sold the Angels collection of stage and screen costume including Obi Wan Kenobi’s hooded cloak from the original Star Wars film, knocked down below expectations at £45,000.

SIR Harry Newton (1871-1951), whose library provided some of the finest things in a £730,000 book sale held by Duke’s of Dorchester on March 8, was an adherent of the old ‘Cabinet’ school of collecting – buying key works of literature and science.