UK

A John Constable (1776-1837) oil sketch drew prolonged competition at the latest auction held at Exeter saleroom Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood.

The collection of medals awarded to Ernest Shackleton, the most decorated of the Polar explorers, excelled at a recent Christie’s South Kensington sale.

Simon de Pury’s sale of the Lambert collection, trailed as a litmus test for high-end digital auctions, will now be conducted as a bricks and mortar event from the rostrum at King Street.

Three years after Christie’s sold an earlier version for £20m, a second version of John Constable’s (1776-1837) The Lock is being offered at Sotheby’s Old Master & British Paintings Sale on December 9.

Stephan Ludwig and Ian Goldbart, creators of the group of businesses that includes Dreweatts, Baldwin’s and Mallett, are understood to have left parent company Stanley Gibbons.

The 1864 Ascot Cup, an impressive Victorian silver racing trophy by Garrard, led proceedings at the three-day sale of the Felix Dennis (1947-2014) collection. It sold at £67,000.

Sir Norman Rosenthal, one of the art world’s best known historians and curators, has described the trade side of the business as “a huge mechanism for preserving knowledge and value”.

The charity behind the vision to revamp the ‘vintage market’ end of Portobello Road has amended its designs in the face of opposition to a key proposal.

A Grand Tour cork model of the Temple of Zeus at Paestum has sold for £44,000 at Hampstead Auctions in north London.

An embossed brass belt buckle discovered in the back garden of an old English cottage is a reminder that the very first Australian side to tour England was one made up entirely of Aborigines.

Bimbo The Giant Clown was the beaming white face of Pelham Puppets for decades.

A new law giving online auction buyers additional consumer protection rights has been criticised for throwing dealers and auction houses into a legal grey area.

Timing is everything in sport and at auction. With New Zealand firm favourites to retain the Webb Ellis Cup on October 31, this is surely the moment to sell the jersey of a legendary All Black.

Antiquities dealers ArtAncient were the winners of the best stand award at the 2015 LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair.

The sports writers will have turned their attention to the rugby world cup by the time you read this, but at ATG we are focusing on differently shaped balls.

A bizarre story of an artist who claimed her old studio sold pieces of paint spattered carpet as her original work has appeared in the press recently, drawing attention to the thorny issue of copyright and false attribution.

Estimated at £2000-3000 in the printed catalogue, this Italian casket drew such pre-sale interest that it was quickly upgraded in the online catalogue to £5000-7000.

The organisers of the ‘Olympia International Art Antiques Fair’ will shorten next year’s event from 11 days to seven following a poll of existing exhibitors.

The Law Commission is still keen to hear from collectors and dealers about the impact a legal definition of ‘antique firearm’ may have on the trade in period weapons.

Exeter saleroom Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood will offer a well-provenanced oil by John Constable (1776-1837) in their October 6 fine art sale.