News

SOUTH Africa’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 1961 brought with it hefty import taxes on finished luxury goods: a difficult moment for Meccano, for whom the colonies were key markets.

ART and antiques could be one of the few winners in a UK government review to tighten up and streamline tax-relief rules.

THE saga of the portrait sold by Christie’s in 1998 as ‘19th century German’, but now claimed as a long-lost work by Leonardo da Vinci, has taken a new turn following the dismissal of the complaint against Christie’s lodged by the work’s consignor.

CONSOLIDATED annual sales at Sotheby’s were up 74% to £3.17bn ($4.8bn), including buyer’s premium, putting the firm marginally behind Christie’s, who posted results of £3.3bn ($5bn) last month.

BRITAIN'S smaller regional auctioneers continue to enjoy major prices for Chinese works of art. This mark and period Qianlong (1736-96) doucai jardinière, 9in (23cm) high, achieved a house record for Douglas auctioneers Murrays (incorporating Chrystals) at their latest sale.

THE Greek courts have commuted the sentence of antiquities dealer Malcolm Hay from four years to three, suspended for three years.

ALBRECHT Dürer may not be the name most people would think of as producing the earliest printed star charts, but his will be the name that counts when Sotheby's offer a very rare pair of charts in a March 30 print sale.