2011

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.

FORMER Scotland Yard Art & Antiques Squad detective Vernon Rapley is one of two speakers at a lecture on art crime at the Royal Geographical Society on April 5.

THIS marble portrait bust of Ann Borrett by the 18th century sculptor Henry Cheere was stolen from the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Shoreham, Kent at the end of January.

Bristol Antiques and Collectors Fair have been forced to postpone this weekend’s event on March 6 at the Memorial Stadium.

ANOTHER threat to the antiques trade on Portobello Road has been dealt with an application to open up the basement of the Admiral Vernon Arcade to seven-day trading.

AMONG the more unusual entries to Mallams' latest sale in Cheltenham was this early Victorian table carved from parrot coal.

INTERNATIONAL Antique and Collectors’ Fairs have applied to Epping Forest District Council for planning consent to hold three one-day fairs this year at the North Weald Airfield, near Epping in Essex, one of the UK’s most heavily populated counties.

THE case of a hacker who stole more than £180,000 from eBay users has highlighted weaknesses in PayPal’s procedures.

THE Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum have secured this unique piece of furniture at a price of £850,000.

POLICE have thanked two female members of staff who tackled jewellery robbers in a raid on an East Sussex antiques shop.

A TAXIDERMY rhinoceros head mount has been stolen Sworders auction house in Stansted Mountfitchet in what police believe was a raid planned by professional thieves.

Professional Advisors to the International Art Market (PAIAM), a new networking association to promote business interests and share ideas and information, launches next month in London.

MORE than 20,000 naval postcards, thousands of photographs and slides, and a large quantity of books will be put up for sale at Lawrences in Crewkerne in May.

BONHAMS have appointed Anthony McNerney as head of Contemporary art.

ADAM Partridge is opening a new auction house in Liverpool, covering the whole of the Merseyside region, with the doors opening on March 2.