News topics

The London Assay Office (LAO) is to launch a crackdown on what it says is a rise in illegal antique silver being offered for sale.

The 20/21 British Art Fair will take place in Saatchi Gallery this year with an expanded timeline and the new name of British Art Fair following its sale to new owners.

Growth “across all value levels of the market” helped global sales at Christie’s increase by 26% to £5.1bn in 2017, says Orlando Rock, chairman of Christie’s UK.

A pendulum clock used in an early longitude trial will be offered for sale by Dreweatts next month.

Heritage Auctions says more than half of its sales are now made through the internet.

The most eye-catching price at the latest series of Old Master and 19th century art sales in New York came at Sotheby’s separately staged auction of drawings from the collection of the late Howard and Saretta Barnet.

Antiques dealership Mallett and book specialist Bloomsbury are to be relaunched this year after being reunited with former stablemate Dreweatts.

Texas-based fine art and collectables specialist Heritage Auctions announced a number of new developments to its mobile app last month. Advances included one-touch mobile bidding and an extension to the barcode scanning facility for coins.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period January 25-31, 2018. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

An iconographic gold ring – perhaps once belonging to a bishop or senior member of the clergy in the Yorkshire area – sold for £7100 at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) in Etwall, Derbyshire.

And still the lofts and attics of UK homes play their part in the lucrative China trade… A c.1800 Imperial yellow cushion cover was one example offered at Trevanion & Dean (19% buyer’s premium) in Whitchurch.

Roman and 20th century poetry, science and sarcasm, Arctic printing, Mayan discoveries, cranes and a porcupine, as well as a miniature master of calligraphy all featured in one of the first large London book sales of the year.

A selection of stand-out lots in upcoming sales.

A trio of literary discoveries star at Sim Fine Art’s upcoming exhibition.

A previously unrecorded painting attributed to Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, the Italian Old Master known as il Guercino (1591-1666), has been consigned to Cambridge auction house Cheffins.