2014

The outstanding lot of the latest Old Master auction series in London, ‘Rome, from Mount Aventine’ by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), was knocked down at £27m at Sotheby’s evening sale, setting a record price for the artist.

James 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.

Nantwich auctioneers Peter Wilson set a new house record at their latest sale with this large Qianlong (1736-95) mark-and-period doucai ‘lotus and bats’ jar and cover.

This copper-gilt coffin plate, bearing an inscription in Latin with the dates of Oliver Cromwell’s birth, death and inauguration as Lord Protector and the arms of the Protectorate to the reverse, was found when his body was exhumed from the Henry VII chapel at Westminster Abbey on January 26, 1661.

Among the most important Asian works of art to come to market in the modern collecting era, an Imperial Ming dynasty embroidered silk thangka sold for HK$310m (£27m) at a Christie’s latest Chinese art series in Hong Kong.

The Kunstmuseum Bern’s announcement that it would accept the Gurlitt bequest (aside from any Nazi-looted art) has been followed by a pledge by Germany’s culture minister to return the disputed Matisse and other works to the families of their original owners.

Christie’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.

A 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.

The £40,000 corkscrew with an old London Bridge connection sold by auctioneers Reeman Dansie on November 26 is an extremely rare Victorian patent.

Lady Jane Franklin (1791-1875) gained worldwide admiration for her efforts to trace her husband’s disappearance on his fatal 1845 voyage seeking the North West Passage.

Arguably the most famous historic figure in French history and a princely provenance proved an irresistible combination earlier this month in France when a collection of Napoleonic memorabilia formed by the Grimaldi dynasty of Monaco went under the hammer.

A Portobello Road dealer, charged with the sale of an ivory carving police believed had contravened CITES rules, has won her case after a judge said it was up to the Crown to prove its age.

Antiques Young Guns has announced it will launch the brand in the USA in 2015 through a new partnership with US Antiques Shows (USAS).

Thirteen men have been charged with conspiracy to steal as part of a national investigation into high-value thefts from an East Sussex saleroom and museums across the country.

New York has witnessed some spectacular auction prices of late and another came last week as ‘Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1’ by Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was knocked down at $39.5m (£26.3m) at Sotheby’s American art sale.

Only 53 individuals and organisations submitted evidence for the impact study on the Artist’s Resale Right, the Intellectual Property Office has revealed as it published results last week.

The Silver Society has announced its fifth annual series of evening seminars focusing on hallmarks, techniques, connoisseurship and the history of silver.

Stanley Gibbons have launched their online collectables marketplace dealing in low-value stamps, coins, postcards and memorabilia.

Bonhams will their launch their sales of Modern and Contemporary Art from Asia in Hong Kong on March 15 during the ‘Art Basel Hong Kong’ week.

COMMENT: As the saying goes, turnover is vanity, profit is sanity. Hold that thought as you consider the announcement that Bill Ruprecht is to stand down as CEO of Sotheby’s after nearly 15 years.