2017

An exceptional Xuande mark and period ‘fish pond’ bowl, trumpeted by Sotheby’s as among the greatest examples of early Ming blue and white porcelain in private hands, sold in Hong Kong for HK$229m (£22.9m) on April 4.

A member of a gang which stole taxidermy from a well-known dealer a year ago, has been sentenced.

At first glance, a hammer price of £23,000 is a heck of a lot to pay for a vehicle distinguished only by a heavily rusted shell with headlights, bumper and assorted bits and pieces lying around forlornly.

The redevelopment of the premises of Pimlico Road antique dealers and a historic timber yard on the same site has been challenged in the courts.

A judge in London has ruled against a London gallery over the seizure of a Chinese silver tea set dating from the Qing dynasty containing a tiny amount of ivory.

A large, late masterpiece by JMW Turner (1775-1851), one of few such works still in private hands, appears at Sotheby’s this July with an estimate of £15-25m.

Proving that a weapon was definitely used at a particular battle can be tricky but it can mean a huge price difference. If that battle was the Little Bighorn it is particularly difficult to prove.

A court in the US has given the go-ahead for Germany to be sued for the return of Nazi-looted art and artefacts under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

Surrey auction firm Fryer & Brown Auctioneers is set to be struck off the UK company register after it ceased trading in January.

A painting of the classical subject of Acis & Galatea drew a flurry of bids at Chorley’s latest fine art sale in Cheltenham.

The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has put out a call for entrants to the 2018 ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography.

A poster for the classic film The Invisible Man soared to four times its low estimate at a recent Heritage Auctions sale in Dallas.

A consignment of 16 pens from the collection of Christopher Lee, the distinguished British actor who played Dracula in nine films, is to go under the hammer at Dreweatts and Bloomsbury.

A successful sale tempts further consignments. The recent string of excellent results for Zulu War medals has certainly encouraged fresh batches of honours to auctioneers.

The French law that states vendors should pay Droit de Suite has been affirmed by a Versailles court.

China is shutting a third of its ivory factories and shops, as it begins to meet the requirements of a formal ban by the end of the year.

A new book on two prolific Victorian printmakers launched last night.

Furniture and lighting designer Cox London has joined the line-up of interior designers around Pimlico Road.

A copy of a pioneering work that has been described as “the first practical statement of socialist doctrine”, Robert Owen’s ‘A New View of Society...,’ of 1813-14, will be a major attraction in a Dominic Winter sale next month.