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2013

Major research project into the trade launched

20 November 2013

A major research project aims to investigate the history, evolving nature and importance of the British antiques trade in the 20th century.

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Celebrating a bank on the slide

19 November 2013

Collectors have known about the possible existence of an unseen mechanical money bank by J. & E. Stevens of Connecticut for more than half a century. It’s just that one had never turned up – until now.

Sotheby’s focus on shareholder value following challenge

18 November 2013

Driving value for shareholders is at the heart of Sotheby’s business review and ongoing strategy, as third-quarter results show a big rise in private treaty sales and a long-awaited boost from their online offer.

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Bulging caricatures sale at Bloomsbury

18 November 2013

Bloomsbury Auctions enjoyed stellar success with their single-owner sale of caricatures, costume and sporting prints, including this image of the king’s mistress.

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Ex-PM’s special advisor buys London’s priciest address sign

15 November 2013

This rust-tinged enamelled sheet iron sign was sold for £31,500 at Summers Place Auctions’ latest sale in Billingshurst, West Sussex.

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A slave to the clock

15 November 2013

Gents of Leicester, the first company to market electric bells in the UK, began to produce the electric clock system, known eventually as the Pulsynetic in the first decade of the 20th century.

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Portraits produced by a ‘colour-blind’ artist draw bidders at Slane Castle

15 November 2013

One of lots drawing a decent competition at the Adam’s sale at Slane Castle last month was a pair of chalk portraits by Robert Healy (c.1743-71).

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Symbols of longevity – and wealth

15 November 2013

A new record for any work of art sold in New Zealand was set when Webb’s in Auckland sold this pair of 19th century Chinese carved rhinoceros horns for NZ$680,000 (£375,700).

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Warhol’s Car Crash helps set highest total ever for a Sotheby’s auction

14 November 2013

The large volumes of money being spent in the Contemporary art market continued at Sotheby’s last night as the auctioneers posted their highest ever total for a single sale.

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Bacon sets new all-time saleroom high at $127m

13 November 2013

Saleroom history was made in New York last night as Francis Bacon’s 'Three Studies Of Lucian Freud' set a new high for any lot ever sold at auction.

£17m statue stand-off as London councils persist in rival claims

13 November 2013

The ownership dispute over a Henry Moore sculpture dubbed Old Flo looks set to rumble on despite one side claiming victory and making plans to sell it.

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Evicted tenants from Woburn Abbey centre find a new home just up the road

13 November 2013

Dealers given two months to quit a 46-year antique centre tenancy in the grounds of Woburn Abbey are celebrating finding a new home – in the nearby town of Woburn itself.

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Robbers target Chippenham Auction Rooms

13 November 2013

A sale at Chippenham Auction Rooms had to be cancelled after thieves broke in overnight by removing tiles from the roof.

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Thangka leads Dreweatts' Asian art sale at £450,000

12 November 2013

Dreweatts achieved their highest price to date in the Asian art market when an 18th century Sino-Tibetan thangka depicting the Milarepa cult sold for £450,000 at the firm’s first sale marking their participation in the Asian Art in London initiative.

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Estonian Olympic cycling medals strike gold

12 November 2013

It is not often that auctioneer Graham Budd finds his name splashed over the front pages of Estonian newspapers but when a particular group of cycling memorabilia came up at his November 4-5 sale it is exactly what happened.

Croydon race to fend off Riesco judicial review

12 November 2013

Campaigners against the sale of 24 items of Chinese ceramics from Croydon council’s Riesco Collection were in a race against time to raise money for their judicial review.

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Vase takes Asian art top spot at £2.65m

12 November 2013

This Yongzheng yellow and green enamel vase was the highest-selling lot from the week-long auction series of Asian art held in London.

Sotheby’s to close Noortman

11 November 2013

Sotheby’s are to close Noortman Master Paintings, the London-based international art dealership, by December 31.

Debate over status of €1bn Munich art cache

11 November 2013

Details are slowly emerging regarding the discovery in Munich some two years ago of an extraordinary cache of art with a Nazi era provenance.

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Trust steps up its inventive appeal to protect Heath Robinson’s legacy

11 November 2013

Partnership funding is the key to securing the future of a museum dedicated to the life and work of William Heath Robinson, the artist and illustrator whose name has, for 100 years now, been part of the English language.