London

169 years after Franklin’s ill-fated 1845-48 attempt to find the western exit to the Northwest Passage, his Third Officer's Arctic Medal has come up for sale just as the Canadian government has announced that one of Franklin’s ships has been located.

Queues across Berkeley Square on the opening night augured well for the 2014 LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair, and there was certainly a buzz inside the giant marquee, along with evidence of early sales among the 100-plus dealers standing there.

Phillips have made a statement of intent by opening their new saleroom and exhibition space in the heart of Mayfair and on the doorstep of Sotheby’s and Bonhams.

An appeal for a shorter sentence launched by a conman who scammed dealers at fairs across the country has been dismissed.

Bonhams of Bond Street are to sell what is perhaps the most significant collection of cameos and intaglios seen on the market for decades.

This memorial design featuring a magnificent peacock resting on a bier and surrounded by myrtle leaves was painted by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones in 1886 following the tragic death of Laura Lyttelton, a friend of the artist who died a few days after giving birth to a son.

A West London auction house is facing court, charged with the sale of a modern elephant ivory carving under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) (CITES) Regulations 1997.

Spink are reuniting the first two Victoria Crosses awarded during the First World War as part of a unique exhibition focusing upon the first four months of the conflict.

The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow is to explore the intensity with which pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti depicted model Jane Morris, William’s wife.

The highest denomination note issued by the Bank of England, this £1000 banknote is a rare survivor of a limited run that was cut short as the Nazis tried to destabilise the British economy.

Photographs are the latest discipline to join the roster of sales at 25 Blythe Road, the West London auction hub built around arms and armour auctioneer Thomas Del Mar Ltd.

Next week sees the opening of ‘The London Design Festival’, which runs from September 13-21 with a host of shows and events across the capital.

The First World War centenary has prompted numerous related exhibitions which have rather dominated the calendar this year as you might expect.

Details have emerged of a theft of a significant collection of British pocket watches from a property in London earlier this year.

As the summer break ends, next month sees a rush of activity in the art world with a flurry of events not least in the Tribal Art category.

Since 1964 William Morris’s Cotswold home at Kelmscott Manor has been under the care of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Two drawings of Old Testament subjects by the American-born portrait and history painter Benjamin West (1738-1820) proved the highlight of the latest sale of Old Masters & 19th Century Works on Paper at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions’ saleroom in Mayfair.

Pick up your stick and head out for ‘Canemania 2014’, the ninth international cane conference, to be held from September 10-13 in London.

The ‘piece of paper’ waved by Neville Chamberlain on his return from meeting Hitler in 1938 must count as one of the most infamous documents in history.

The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office want to help more UK provincial auctioneers spot fakes by inviting them to their Fakes and Forgeries seminars at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London.