News

Born and bred in the environs of Birmingham, Sheila Hughes (1937-2006) first began collecting tiles in the early 1970s.

Dukes have negotiated the sale to the nation of two major Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Music by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones and Hamlet and Ophelia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti were found in the Oxfordshire home of the late Jean Preston that also yielded two panels from the San Marco altarpiece by Fra Angelico sold by the Dorchester auctioneers last year for £1.7m.

CHRISTIE’S have maintained their lead over their rivals in wine sales thanks mainly to strong totals posted in Europe.

The results of the 2007 LAPADA membership survey broadly suggest a steady market throughout the previous year. Forty per cent of respondents reported a similar turnover to 2006 and 48 per cent expected it to be about the same in 2008.

SOTHEBY’S have released interim headline sales figures for 2007, which show worldwide auction totals up 44 per cent on 2006 at $5.4bn.

JOHN Nicholson’s are the latest ‘provincial’ auctioneers to open a London office.

Bonhams have announced the location of two major new salerooms – in Edinburgh and New York.