News

The long-awaited government consultation on the trade in ivory in the UK is to be launched.

A silver tumbler made by 17th century Chester silversmith Peter Pemberton has been bought by a trust to ensure it will stay on public display in its home town.

He was famous for film roles such as Dracula in Hammer Horror movies, Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun, Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man, Saruman in Lord of the Rings and Count Dooku in Star Wars. But Sir Christopher Lee’s role in the Second World War is also highlighted in a collection of his awards on offer at Spink on November 1.

Once believed by other inhabitants of the region to be people who hid in the forests so as to avoid being put to work or taken as slaves, orang-utans undertook a couple of significant auction outings as part of Sotheby's sale of the travel library of John and Suzanne Bonham.

Bonhams has changed the price thresholds for its buyer’s premium. The new rates in the UK exactly mirror Christie’s charges but are slightly different to Sotheby’s adjusted fees structure which comes into force next month.

An auction of contemporary and post-war British art will be held in Sudbury this month to raise funds to establish a national centre for the artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88).

Baldwin’s of St James’s set a new record for a British five pounds piece when a “good, extremely fine” example of the 1839 ‘Una and the Lion’ five pounds coin took £340,000.