Latest News Articles by Laura Chesters
Sofa where Edward Prince of Wales met Wallis Simpson comes to auction in Northamptonshire
08 May 2019The 'love seat' said to have played a part in the abdication crisis of 1936 is to be offered at auction this week at Humbert & Ellis.
Dealer Wartski and BADA Friends to host networking event for the ‘future’ of the trade
07 May 2019BADA Friends will host its latest Young Friends Dealer Networking Evening next week with the aim of bringing together the younger generation of the trade.
Pick of the week: Du Maurier dazzles as buyers worldwide snap up all 354 lots of writer's archive
06 May 2019A manuscript for Rebecca and a favourite typewriter were among the top lots in a collection of objects and ephemera once owned by author and playwright Daphne du Maurier (1907-89) sold at Rowley’s in Ely (22.5% buyer’s premium).
Lymington Auctions takes on George Kidner rooms
06 May 2019A toy specialist and his son have bought the former auction house of George Kidner in Hampshire and will relaunch auctions and open an antiques centre on the site.
Spicer breathes new life into East Yorkshire fine art auctions
06 May 2019The fine art auction business of Dee Atkinson & Harrison in Yorkshire has been renamed Spicers by former employee Andrew Spicer.
Rare book dealer Bernard Quaritch heads north to Holborn
06 May 2019Book dealership Bernard Quaritch is relocating to the Holborn area of London, from Mayfair.
Collector interview: The man who also explores old worlds
06 May 2019In the latest of our occasional series of collector interviews, we talk to entrepreneur Algy Cluff, a former army officer and oil and mining business supremo, about his collecting tastes
Call for help to recover pictures and sculptures stolen from Leicestershire home
03 May 2019Pictures by contemporary artists Howard Hodgkin, Sir Peter Blake and Gilbert & George and sculptures by William Turnbull have been stolen from a home in Leicestershire.
Memories of Queen Victoria’s favourite dog among collection of Royal memorabilia heading to auction in north London
02 May 2019A collection of items relating to Queen Victoria including a memento mori for her beloved dog are to be offered at a north London auction house.
Online art and antiques marketplace 1stdibs to close sister company Online Galleries
01 May 2019Dealer portal Online Galleries is to close on July 1 with its US owner choosing to focus instead on growing the art, antiques and vintage online marketplace 1stdibs.
Collector takes the Lusitania lifeboat biscuit at £300,000 Titanic sale in Wiltshire
01 May 2019A hard tack biscuit, purportedly taken from a lifeboat during the sinking of RMS Lusitania, sold for £4000 at Henry Aldridge & Son’s latest Titanic, White Star and Transport Memorabilia sale (20% buyer's premium).
Phillips bolsters US business with former Sotheby's hires and Christie’s focuses on private sales - the latest Movers and Shakers
30 April 2019A selection of appointments across the art and antiques market including Phillips hiring former Sotheby’s head of Impressionist & Modern art David Norman.
Four works by Francis Bacon worth £3m barred from export by government in hope of keeping them in the UK
29 April 2019The government is hoping to find a buyer for four works - three rugs and a painted screen - by Francis Bacon (1909-92) in the hope of keeping them in the country.
EU cultural goods bill is ‘blow’ to market – but full impact may not be felt until 2025
29 April 2019The art and antiques trade has described the introduction of new controls on the import of cultural goods as a “considerable blow” to the market.
TEFAF takes full control of New York fairs after deal with Artvest
26 April 2019TEFAF has taken full control of its New York fair business after agreeing a deal to buy out the 49% stake of New York art advisory firm Artvest.
Chiswick Auctions launches car department, Séan McIlroy leaves Doerr Valuations and David Feldman hires in the UK – the latest Movers and Shakers
25 April 2019A selection of appointments across the art and antiques market.
New York Old Master dealer helps UK museums buy Zucchi portrait of Scottish architect and designer James Adam
22 April 2019The National Galleries of Scotland and the Victoria and Albert Museum have bought Italian artist Antonio Zucchi’s (1726-95) portrait of architect James Adam (1732-94).
Hand of Raphael suspected in Italian Renaissance work
19 April 2019A drawing offered at a Paris auction with an attribution to Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Francesco Penni (1488-1528) was hammered down at €1.13m (£980,000).
Pick of the week: Gill puts WH Smith on the map
19 April 2019A large oil on panel map by MacDonald Gill celebrating the presence of stationer WH Smith on the British high street in the 1920s was hammered down at £50,000 in Gloucestershire.
Search for UK buyer to pay £11.5m for Old Master drawing blocked from export
19 April 2019A sketch by Dutch artist Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533) has been temporarily blocked from export in the hope of finding a UK buyer.