North America

Tiffany & Co have appealed over the ruling that eBay do not have to police their auction site for fakes before they are sold to unwitting buyers.

The FBI are attempting to track down the rightful owners of 137 works of art, discovered in a New York apartment, which are thought to have been stolen in the 1960s and 70s.

Ebay have won a landmark judgment in the US federal courts, which effectively protects their position as an independent trading platform.

A DEAL is being finalised which means Palm Beach | America's International Fine Art & Antique Fair, is owned once again by Florida-based entrepreneur David Lester, who founded the event.

The only known copy of the world’s first telephone directory sold for $140,000 (£71,430) at Christie’s New York on June 17 as part of an $11m (£5.9m) sale of the Richard Green scientific library.

Sotheby’s New York and Christie's King Street both withdrew furniture lots provenanced to dealers John and Carlton Hobbs from sale last week – casualties of the unfolding "fake" furniture scandal first exposed by The Sunday Times.

This remarkable late 19th century English longcase clock offered for sale in Pennsylvania last month showed late Victorian design at its most confident.

A RADICAL shake-up in the overall organisation, marketing and direction of Palm Beach | America's International Fine Art & Antiques Fair is underway. It will guarantee the future security of the event as a premier American fixture for the next five years and bring in a number of top dealers as part of the organisation.

As of June 1, Sotheby’s auctions in New York and London will be subject to new buyer’s premium thresholds that will hit further buyers of ‘middle range’ art and antiques.

THE gargantuan sums of money being spent at the top end of the contemporary art market continued unabated as the latest sales series in New York saw a staggering overall premium-inclusive total of $990m.

Fears that New York’s flagship May sales might usher in a market meltdown were allayed last week as Sotheby’s and Christie’s posted solid results for Impressionist and Modern art.

One collection that Sotheby's and Christie's will not be selling this season is that of Ileana Sonnabend. In what has been described as the largest private sale of art ever, the heirs of the legendary New York dealer who died in October 2007 have recently parted with some $600m worth of paintings and sculptures (including Jeff Koons’ 1986 Rabbit valued at $80m) to cover their estate taxes.

After weeks of legal wrangling, permission has finally been granted to sell property from the bankrupt Manhattan Old Master dealership Salander-O'Reilly Gallery.

The Louvre have secured the return of a French Crown Jewel after 121 years, through a private sale with Christie’s New York.

CONCERN over credit rules in New York has led a lawyer to draw up guidelines to protect the rights of anyone consigning art to dealers for sale there.

An image that may rewrite the history of photography has been withdrawn from a Sotheby’s New York sale pending further research.

Three Europeans and four Americans have been charged following the breaking of two international rings involved in the manufacture and distribution of fake 20th century prints.

SPINK have taken another step in their bid to become global brand leaders in their field with another major acquisition in the United States. Last week they announced the purchase of New York’s oldest established coins dealers and auctioneers, R.M. Smythe & Company.

A FRAUDSTER has tricked a US auction house into handing over a valuable Japanese artwork by posing as the representative of the buyer, an English dealer. It is thought they targeted the piece after realising that it was worth a great deal more than it sold for.

Two works by big league Impressionists dating from the early years of the movement are in the spotlight this spring.