Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Birtwell Collection sale offers fashion one-offs
15 June 2015Kerry Taylor Auctions are selling the Celia Birtwell Collection on June 23 in Bermondsey, south London.
New high for Olympic torch as Budd sets £420,000 house record
09 June 2015Sports specialist Graham Budd struck gold in his latest sale by setting an Olympic torch auction record.
Collector’s tip-off helps police rescue big stash of church relics
26 May 2015More than 60 artefacts stolen from English and Welsh country churches over the past few years have been recovered by police after they were alerted by a collector.
Protests against more Portobello redevelopment
22 April 2015A charity aiming to redevelop the vintage market end of London’s Portobello Road has been forced to defend its plans in the face of protests against further gentrification of the area.
Duke’s open for business at new town centre salerooms
21 April 2015Duke’s have moved into their new offices and saleroom in Dorchester.
New blacklist threat for deaccessioning museums
09 April 2015A fresh warning has gone out to UK museums and galleries that they could face future funding cuts if they sell items from their collections.
Medal group of last surviving dambuster tempts Lord Ashcroft
01 April 2015Lord Ashcroft is best known for Victoria Crosses as a collector, but the bravery of the Dambusters inspired his latest attempts to buy gallantry awards.
‘Overvalued’ Dark Age hoard comes to auction
24 March 2015A remarkable hoard of coins shedding light on the power struggles between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons has come onto the open market in a highly unusual sale.
Online bidding now the norm for medals as CGC takes £130,000
03 March 2015The online-only sale of a modern British gallantry award estimated at a hefty £100,000-120,000 was always going to be an interesting test of the market.
Boba Fett Star Wars figure sets auction record
04 February 2015The toy ripped open from plastic and cardboard may bring joy to a child – but it is the simple packaging that makes the big money when that child becomes a collector with an eye on pounds, not play value.
Classic horror poster sets $478,000 record
22 December 2014“It is a somewhat incoherent narrative, which, however, gives Lon Chaney an opportunity to turn up in an uncanny disguise and also to manifest his powers as Scotland Yard’s expert hypnotist. You are therefore treated to close-ups of Mr Chaney’s rolling orbs, which, fortunately, do not exert their influence on the audience.”
V&A deal secures future of Wedgwood archive
15 December 2014A series of deals to safeguard the future of the Wedgwood Collection and ensure it will continue to be displayed in the Potteries have now been completed.
Record for Nobel Prize medal at $4.1m
08 December 2014James Watson’s 1962 award for his work on DNA set a world record price for a Nobel Prize Medal at Christie’s in New York when it sold for $4.1m (£2.6m) hammer.
DNA pioneer’s medal for sale
01 December 2014Christie’s New York are offering the 1962 Nobel Prize gold medal awarded to Dr James D. Watson, one of the world’s greatest living scientists.
Funding pledge for Your Sculpture project
01 December 2014A project to create a free, comprehensive photo catalogue online of all the sculptures held in UK public collections has moved a step closer thanks to a £2.84m pledge of support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Fox Talbot archive goes to Bodleian Library after appeal brings success
27 October 2014The Bodleian Library in Oxford has bought the personal archive of William Henry Fox Talbot, the British ‘founder of photography’, after a successful appeal.
Why it’s all blossoming at Tennants in Leyburn…
10 October 2014This huge installation created using more than 40 gallons of oil paints will be the centrepiece of the first exhibition to mark the launch of shows by visiting artists to The Garden Rooms at Tennants.
Franklin medal for sale as wreck is discovered
26 September 2014169 years after Franklin’s ill-fated 1845-48 attempt to find the western exit to the Northwest Passage, his Third Officer's Arctic Medal has come up for sale just as the Canadian government has announced that one of Franklin’s ships has been located.
Pinchbecks reclaim clock after nearly 300 years
22 September 2014Collector Robin Pinchbeck had never bought a clock before, but when he set his sights on the George I walnut-cased astronomical longcase on offer at Mitchells (17.5% buyer’s premium) of Cockermouth on September 11-12 he knew he simply had to have it.
Phillips join the Mayfair set in Berkeley Square
17 September 2014Phillips have made a statement of intent by opening their new saleroom and exhibition space in the heart of Mayfair and on the doorstep of Sotheby’s and Bonhams.