Museum acquisitions

Museums often acquire works through donations but, in spite of funding constraints, they also make purchases to expand their collections, either bidding at auctions, negotiating private treaty sales or, in the UK, via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.


Box from the reign of Amenhotep II

Dealer helps Scottish museum piece together Egyptian treasure

25 January 2017

Antiquities specialist Charles Ede has revealed its role in helping National Museums Scotland complete one of the Egyptian treasures in its collection.

2275 NE Yortan jug Adam Partridge and Thelma Bishop.jpg

Bronze Age jug returned to Turkey

17 January 2017

A Bronze Age artefact from Anatolia has been returned to Turkey after a ceremony at the Turkish Embassy in London.

16th century large-scale portrait of Queen Elizabeth I

Review of the Year 2016 - Saved for the Nation

27 December 2016

Important works of art sold to overseas buyers are typically subject to temporary export bans in the hope that a buyer can be found to keep them in the UK - here we offer our top five 2016 purchases

HK pirate painting

Dealer Roger Keverne donates pirate painting to Hong Kong museum

15 December 2016

Asian art dealers Roger and Miranda Keverne donated a Chinese export painting, depicting pirates on the China coast, to the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.

Nonsuch

Watercolour of Henry VIII’s famed lost Palace of Nonsuch saved for the nation

09 December 2016

The earliest and most detailed depiction of Henry VIII’s famed lost Palace of Nonsuch will soon be on public display after The Victoria & Albert Museum saved it for the nation.

Gold torc

Museums offered chance to buy metal detectorist’s Bronze Age gold torc

29 November 2016

A 3000-year old torc found in a field in east Cambridgeshire is one of the largest and heaviest to be unearthed in the UK.

V&A

The Victoria & Albert Museum unveils 500 objects from its Gilbert Collection

22 November 2016

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Galleries in the Victoria & Albert Museum has re-opened with more than 500 objects on display, free to the public.

Mirror frame

Dealer helps Fitzwilliam track down trophy mirror in France

21 November 2016

The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge hopes to raise the final £65,000 needed to buy a 17th century gilded mirror frame for its collection.

Lagrenee NG

Old Master painting from Brian Sewell collection donated to The National Gallery

19 November 2016

The National Gallery has received one of the paintings from the collection of the late art critic Brian Sewell.

Monarch of the Glen

Monarch of the Glen withdrawn from Christie’s auction as museum and owner make deal

17 November 2016

Edwin Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen has been withdrawn from auction at Christie’s following an agreement between the consignor and the National Galleries of Scotland to help the museum retain the iconic painting.

coins at Yorkshire

The Yorkshire Museum acquires second largest Roman coin hoard ever found

10 November 2016

The Yorkshire Museum has acquired the Wold Newton Hoard after receiving funds totalling £44,200.

Prince of Wales

Mason museum buys rare glass painting of Grand Master

09 November 2016

The Library and Museum of Freemasonry in London has revealed the latest addition to its collection.

hoard

Ashmolean Museum aims to save Anglo-Saxon hoard before it gets "broken up"

07 November 2016

The Ashmolean Museum has made a significant stride towards the retention of a Viking hoard with the receipt of a grant of more than £1.1m from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Duke of Wellington

National Portrait Gallery launches appeal to secure Lawrence portrait of Duke of Wellington

03 November 2016

The National Portrait Gallery today launched an appeal to finish raising the £1.3m necessary to secure Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for its collection.

Musée d’Orsay receives pledge of private collection estimated at €350m

24 October 2016

A 600-work collection of late 19th and early 20th century French paintings worth an estimated €350m has been pledged to the Musee d’Orsay.

Richard Green US

Richard Green sells Old Master painting to US National Gallery of Art

20 October 2016

Richard Green has sold the Old Master oil painting "A Woman Feeding a Parrot" by Caspar Netscher to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

St Luke Drawing the Virgin and Child is attributed to the workshop of Dieric Bouts the Elder

Recently rescued national treasure to go on public display

17 October 2016

An Old Master painting recently saved for the nation by the Bowes Museum is set to be showcased at a new exhibition held in the painting’s new home.

ATG quotes of the week

They said what?! The week (10-16 Oct) in quotes from the art and antiques world

16 October 2016

In a new weekend series, Antiques Trade Gazette brings you a selection of quotes from dealers, auctioneers, collectors and others – from the future gazing to recalling past mistakes. For instance, which world famous art dealer sold a signed John Lennon album for a song?

Hubert Robert painting

Hubert Robert – French museums’ flavour of the month at auction

09 October 2016

For the second time in a month a French museum has secured a painting by Hubert Robert.

Orangerie at Versailles by Hubert Robert

Versailles takes its pick and buys picture of the château orangerie

28 September 2016

The Château of Versailles exercised its right of pre-emption to acquire an 18th century painting of its orangerie that was offered at auction.

News

Categories