UK

The United Kingdom accounts for more than one fifth of the global art market sales and is the second biggest art market after the US.

Through auctioneers, dealers, fairs and markets - and a burgeoning online sector - buyers, collectors and sellers of art and antiques can easily access a vibrant network of intermediaries and events around the country. The UK's museums also house a wealth of impressive collections

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Chiparus figure in Tyne and Wear

22 February 2013

On March 6, Boldon Auction Galleries in East Boldon, Tyne and Wear are offering for sale this 12in (30.5cm) high cold-painted, gilt-bronze and ivory figure by Demetre Chiparus.

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Silver spice box in the form of a Mughal helmet

22 February 2013

A document found sealed within a compartment of this Mughal silver spice box states it was looted during the siege of Delhi in September 1857.

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Beryl Cook’s Plymouth concert

22 February 2013

One of the highlights of Clevedon Salerooms’ fine art sale on February 28 in Bristol is this painting by Beryl Cook (1926-2008) depicting an audience applauding Sir James Galway during a concert in Plymouth.

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Owl photograph that failed to amuse the prince

22 February 2013

This album, included in Sworders’ February 26 sale at Stansted Mountfitchet, contains correspondence relating to an incident over the shooting of an owl during a Royal visit to the Wynyard Park estate in 1896.

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Bidders log on and phone in from the slopes

21 February 2013

Started by Nicolette Tomkinson, head of the posters department at Christie’s South Kensington, 15 years ago, the only dedicated ski poster sale in the UK has successfully mastered a small but lucrative field.

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Major Arts & Crafts collection at auction

19 February 2013

Works of art, tapestries, jewellery and books from the collection of Laurence William Hodson (1864-1933), an art collector and patron to William Morris and other leading artists of the Arts & Crafts Movement, are to be offered across three sales at Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions.

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Louis Vuitton trunk sells for £30,000

19 February 2013

Vintage luggage made by Louis Vuitton was a fitting addition to this year’s aptly named ‘Travel in Style’ ski sale at Christie’s South Kensington.

Trading Standards probe auction house closure

18 February 2013

In a letter to customers, Andrew Granger, the boss of now defunct saleroom The Auction Company Broadway, has spoken of his “deep regret and sorrow” at its closure.

Eric Knowles joins Dreweatts and Bloomsbury

18 February 2013

Eric Knowles has joined the team at Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions as a consultant.

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Renaissance dish charges to £460,000

14 February 2013

Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse posted a new house record today when this 16.5in (42cm) maiolica istoriato charger sold for £460,000.

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Bacon triptych takes £12.25m at Sotheby’s

13 February 2013

Sotheby’s evening sale of Contemporary art in London was led by a Francis Bacon triptych which sold to a German collector at £12.25m.

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Chinese works stolen from Gloucestershire saleroom

12 February 2013

Gloucestershire auctioneers Dominic Winter are offering a reward for information leading to the return of 42 lots which were stolen in a smash-and-grab raid on their South Cerney premises.

Decision to close firm a sign of the times, says Julian Agnew

12 February 2013

Mayfair gallery Agnew’s, the 195-year-old family business best known for Old Masters, will close on April 30 after exhibiting for the last time at ‘The European Fine Art Fair’ in Maastricht next month.

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Fairytale ending at £29,500

11 February 2013

The highlight of the recent Decorative Art and Design sale conducted by Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet was this Wedgwood Fairyland lustre malfrey pot and cover designed by Daisy Makeig-Jones (1881-1945).

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Major Beatrix Potter collection heads to auction

08 February 2013

An important private collection of Beatrix Potter books, manuscripts, artwork, photographs, figurines and collectables is being offered for sale at Bloomsbury Auctions on February 27.

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Haida totem pole in Dorset

08 February 2013

A 19th/early 20th century totem pole brightly painted and carved with a beaver, a bear, a whale and a surmounted eagle with outspread wings is to go under the hammer at Duke’s of Dorchester in Dorset on February 14.

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London sales lift top end of the art market

07 February 2013

The latest sales of Impressionist and Modern art in London posted a strong overall performance as private buyers showed a growing appetite for works by major names.

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Mackintosh cabinet offered without reserve takes £36,000

04 February 2013

This Arts and Crafts music cabinet, entered into a recent sale at Robertson’s of Kinbuck, near Dunblane, without reserve, turned out to be a hitherto lost design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Peers challenge change in law on copyright

04 February 2013

Peers in the House of Lords have made a last-ditch plea to the Government to scrap plans to review design rights under copyright law.

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Wellby bequest is ‘best for a century’

04 February 2013

The collection of close to 500 silver and gold objects donated to the Ashmolean museum in Oxford by the late dealer-collector Michael Wellby has been described as the most important bequest of its type for over a century.

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