Auctioneers

Sotheby’s have announced the appointment of Cécile Bernard as managing director of Sotheby’s France.

Online auction firms Paddle8 and Auctionata have appointed a former Sony boss as their new chief executive officer.

An archive telling the poignant story of one of the 300 nurses who lost their lives during the First World War sold for £11,200 at Hansons of Etwall latest sale.

Barbers Fine Art Auctioneers in Woking closed yesterday after nearly 100 years in business.

Ian Goldbart, lifelong coin collector and former managing director of AH Baldwin & Sons, is launching a new numismatic dealership and auction firm in Mayfair.

A sword owned by Benjamin Franklin will be offered at an upcoming Christie’s sale in New York, estimated at $200,000-300,000.

London Bridge is falling down, goes the song. A bit further upstream, it turns out that the Houses of Parliament are actually doing the falling down.

Salisbury auction house Woolley & Wallis are opening a Mayfair office.

A four-day sale of the contents of a Norfolk country house being conducted by Keys at their Aylsham rooms will include on September 8-9 the vast library formed by Ron Fiske at Morningthorpe Manor.

This George III coconut cup with silver strapwork mounts sold by Lyon & Turnbull of Edinburgh provides a glimpse of the close relationship that existed between Scotland and Russia in the late 18th century.

Not all copies of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone that bear a tell-tale typo sometimes signifying the first edition, first run of the book are the real deal.

A collection of Muhammad Ali memorabilia is being sold in a Dallas saleroom following an outpouring of related consignments from the public in light of the boxer’s death.

A series of Old Master drawings from the collection of Brian Sewell have had their attributions upgraded in advance of the auction of the late art critic’s collection in London next month. They include two long-unattributed works that have now been ascribed to named 16th century Italian artists.

When in the middle of the century Suffolk collector Hugh Marsham Townshend (1878-1967) was amassing a collection of gold-mounted porcelain scent bottles and other trinkets, most were thought to be the products of the Chelsea porcelain works or a shadowy enterprise known as the ‘Girl in a Swing’ factory.

The release of the catalogue for the upcoming sale of the Reagans’ private collection reveals the President’s artistic flair and the First Lady’s taste for diamonds.

A painting by Irish artist Jack B Yeats owned by the late David Bowie will be offered at Sotheby’s in November.

Hutchinson Scott is set to hold its first sale in two years after the founder of the Yorkshire auction house came out of retirement and helped his son restart the family business.

Two Cubist works by Fernand Léger (1881-1955) lead a potentially lucrative line-up of pictures at Chicago saleroom Leslie Hindman’s auction next month.

Two well-known former London auction specialists are launching a new enterprise selling English and European antique furniture.

A collection of motoring mascots formed by Robert White, a leading UK camera retailer, will be offered at Bonhams next month. Offered in single-owner sale in London on September 19, the consignments include 37 examples by René Lalique.