2017

A portrait of a Maori chief by New Zealand artist Charles F Goldie (1870-1947) more than doubled its money in the space of five months after returning to its homeland from the UK.

Christie’s set a major auction record for Govaert Flinck (1615-60) in New York yesterday. The painting by the Dutch Old Master sold at over three times the level it had fetched at a London sale five years ago.

Offer Waterman’s ongoing exhibition of works by an artist who counts the Prince of Wales and Steven Spielberg among his collectors has experienced significant success during its first week.

Cricket can be a confusing game, full of ins and outs, stopping for lunch and tea and rain, with five-day games that can still end in a draw.

A George I giltwood mirror bearing the coat of arms of Sir Bysshe Shelley has returned to a Hampshire stately home after 65 years.

TEFAF has appointed eight new art world professionals to its board of trustees, increasing its membership from 12 to 14.

Coin dealership Coincraft has welcomed four new members of staff and launched a new website.

Poor old Christopher Columbus. Fair enough, he ended up with a country, part of a US state name and an Ohio state capital named after him, but it is the United States of America, not to mention South and North America, that endured.

The decision to delay and possibly shelve a requirement for businesses and the self-employed to file tax returns quarterly rather than yearly has been welcomed by dealer body BADA, which had lobbied against it.

International bodies aiming to expand the reach of the Artist’s Resale Right are meeting in Geneva this week to “create momentum” towards a possible future multi-national treaty on the levy.

The overall value of online sales in the art market increased by 15% in the last year although many buyers remain unconvinced about purchasing works online, according to Hiscox Online Art Trade Report.

Delays and overspends on the Great Western route out of London are frustrating but letters up for auction on April 29 reveal that things didn’t always go smoothly even for the brilliant engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The appetite for collecting Titanic memorabilia remains huge judging by the latest dedicated auction in which a fur coat worn by a member of the crew was offered.

As with Bomber Command and the ‘Forgotten Army’ in Burma, certain British units in the Second World War can often be overlooked and the participants felt ignored.

The largest gold sovereign hoard ever found has been declared treasure but mystery surrounds the identity of the rightful heirs to the trove of gold coins.

Psycho must have been a frightening enough film in its day even without a menacing poster that greeted cinema-goers.

Willem Janszoon Blaeu (c.1570-1638) of Amsterdam and his son, Joan (1596-1673), were the leading figures in the atlas and map publishing world in an age when that Dutch city was the centre of European cartographic achievement.

Members of the trade had plenty to say this week - only some of it serious - in response to the government’s announcement of a general election. Others reacted to revolving doors at the major auction houses and the presence of top-quality pieces at provincial auction houses.

Aston Martins are associated with glamour and glitz. The car of James Bond. But the example coming up in a classic car auction in Essex on May 7 is more muck than mystique.