News

Surrey Police have confirmed that a second man was arrested today on suspicion of the murder of antiques dealer Robyn Mercer.

Auction houses selling wine, whisky and other alcoholic drinks to other businesses face criminal convictions and fines up to £10,000 if they fail to register for a new HMRC scheme that aims to police the sale of alcohol to retailers and capture an estimated £1.2bn in unpaid tax.

An important work by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) will be among the leading lots on offer at this summer’s auction series in London. Lot and his Daughters from c.1613-14 will be the centrepiece of Christie’s newly launched ‘curated’ week of sales branded Classic Week in July.

Police have arrested a man in connection with the murder of antiques dealer Robyn Mercer who was found beaten to death at her home in West Molesey, Surrey.

An original example of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic sold for €185,000 at Whyte’s of Dublin yesterday. Estimated at €150,000-250,000, the document published by the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army was one of only 40-50 known copies left in existence and it drew competition from two phone bidders, one from Ireland and the other from the US who ended up as the successful buyer.

The aisles were busy at the opening of the 29th edition of TEFAF Maastricht 2016 and a decent stream of sales to private buyers added to the buzz created by some significant museum acquisitions.

The global market for art and antiques may have dropped by seven per cent in sales by value last year, but this is “not a signal that the bubble has burst”, the art market’s leading economist told TEFAF 2016 delegates this morning.