France

Sotheby’s has announced the appointment of two new co-European chairmen as well as the establishment of a new strategy board which is set to drive growth.

The prosecution in the trial of the Cols Rouges – the erstwhile portering staff at Hôtel Drouot, the communal saleroom facility used by most Paris auctioneers – have called for prison sentences of up to five years and fines of €250,000 for those found guilty of theft and criminal conspiracy.

Tighter regulations surrounding fraud and money laundering are prompting French banks to close the euro accounts of some UK dealers and shippers.

A medieval ring long associated with Joan of Arc sold for £240,000 – almost 30 times its estimate – at Timeline Auctions in Bloomsbury on February 25.

Paul Iribe’s ‘Nautile’ armchair is one of the most striking proto-Art Deco designs, with its sleek swept-back lines and low armrests formed as a tight nautilus shell spiral.

The countryside of southern Burgundy, with its vineyards and Romanesque churches, might not be the first location that comes to mind for a tribal art fair.

A 1957 Ferrari 355 S Scaglietti sold at the Artcurial Motorcars auction for €32.1m (£24.7m) with premium to an international collector after “a tense, 11-minute bidding battle”.

This 11 x 7in (29 x 20cm) Tête de Femme by Alexej Von Jawlensky is one of over 170 works by a roster of some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art that will feature in a two-part single-owner sale to be held by Tajan in Paris next week.

Paris Tableau, the specialist Old Masters fair, announced midway through its run this month that from next year it would become part of the new annual Biennale des Antiquaires.

The ‘Parcours des Mondes’, Paris’ annual tribal art trail, began last week in the Saint Germain quarter of the city.

A group of 32 ancient gold ornaments have been returned to China following claims they had been illegally removed.

Paris auction house Artcurial have formed a new subsidiary to conduct regular sales in Monaco.

The Hôtel Drouot, the communal saleroom facility used by most Paris auctioneers, has welcomed the news that swathes of former staff members are to face charges relating to stolen property.

Reaction to the news that the Paris ‘Biennale’ will become an annual event has been largely positive.

Members of French dealers’ association the Syndicat National des Antiquaires have voted to make the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris an annual event.

Asian Art has blossomed in Paris this month. Items that combined quality, rarity and provenance generated fierce bidding at sales at Drouot and the various salerooms around the French capital.

The tribal art dealer Anthony JP Meyer, who specialises in Oceanic art, has a gallery on the rue des Beaux Arts in the heart of Paris’ Left Bank dealer district. He is a regular at ‘TEFAF Maastricht’ and at the Paris tribal trail known as the ‘Parcours des Mondes’, which takes place in September. Here he discusses with Anne Crane of Antiques Trade Gazette how his interest in the field started, his views on collecting and the tribal market.

Any drawings enthusiast visiting Paris last week would have been spoilt for choice.

Look back through the provenance of any major Impressionist work and the chances are it will have passed through the hands of Paul Durand-Ruel.

Strong sales of Modern and Contemporary art plus the Félix Marcilhac decorative arts collection helped propel Sotheby’s to the highest auction total in France in 2014, with sales figures of €213m.