UK

Christie’s is weighing up options for the sale of the lease of its Old Brompton Road premises after it held its last sale before closing the popular South Kensington auction rooms.

When this cabinet on stand appeared in the inventory of a Gloucestershire home in the 1920s it was described simply as ‘An old Italian Cabinet of ebony and Tortoiseshell’. In fact, it is Flemish rather than Italian and was probably made in Antwerp in the first half of the 17th century.

Nic McElhatton, former chairman of Christie’s South Kensington, is leaving to set up his own business that will see him move between the worlds of auctions and private sales.

A large Qing blue and white bottle vase with a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark sold for £150,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Halls in Shrewsbury.

Roseberys has made a swoop for senior Christie’s South Kensington former heads as the south-east London auction house signals its mid-market ambitions.

The farewell party for Christie’s South Kensington, around the corner from Old Brompton Road at The Kensington Hotel on July 19, was a melee of former staff, clients and friends of the auction house. So packed was the room, moving from one end to the other was tricky.

London Art Week (June 30-July 7) had its first run as a biannual event organised by a limited company.

Dreamy landscapes, fairies and classical female nudes fill many of today’s best-known canvases by the Victorian artist Edward Robert Hughes (1851-1914). But it was his skills as a portraitist that impressed critics most while he lived.

Bookings are going well for the collaborative venture between B2B Events and Bentleys Fairs at the beginning of August.

A superb set of decorated armour sold at Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) is believed to have set a record. The £880,000 hammer price for the three-quarter-length cuirassier protection is believed to be the highest auction result for 17th century armour.