US

Demands for ‘looted’ items to be returned could be ‘disastrous’ for the dealers, say antiquities trade bodies...

London dealer Daniel Katz has sold two bronze sculptures to the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, one by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and the other by Rodin’s assistant, model and lover Camille Claudel (1864-1943).

The antiques trade might have a darker side but there is also a certain black humour to it all.

Science fiction and fantasy were among the lifelong principal collecting interests of the late Stanley Simon, a postal worker from Queens. In a recent 19th and 20th century literature sale held in his home city of New York a number of his books brought record bids.

One of the better reflections of the art world’s global reach is the tribal art market. No longer the preserve of a handful of aficionados or avant-garde early 20th century artists, the artefacts of non-European cultures are now the subject of worldwide interest and appreciation.

Bid to $1.5m (£1.11m) in a record-breaking comic and comic art sale in Chicago was a Frank Frazetta artwork.

Comic strip artworks to be offered as part of the June 5 ‘Illustration Art’ sale at Swann Auction Galleries will include a 1970 'Peanuts strip' by Charles Schulz estimated at $20,000-30,000.

The David and Peggy Rockefeller auction at Christie’s New York earlier this month was significant as a new high for a single-owner sale, with a series of noteworthy results such as a $102m (£75m) Picasso.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s autograph manuscript of one of the 13 short stories that in 1905 were gathered together in book form as The Return of Sherlock Holmes was offered in New York recently.

Once again it was Harry Houdini who topped the bill in the most recent magic memorabilia auction held by US specialist Potter & Potter Auctions (20% buyer’s premium).

The epic white-glove sale of the David and Peggy Rockefeller collection at Christie’s New York has established a new high for a single-owner auction.

Mexican lots, one of them relating to the working of a silver mine in the 16th century, produced some of the higher bids in a recent Americana sale.

Unusual in the post-internet age, Freeman’s first-floor gallery in downtown Philadelphia was standing room-only for the April 29 auction of the collection of Dorrance ‘Dodo’ Hill Hamilton (1928-2017).

If pictures provided the backbone of the Dodo Hamilton collection, then there was no denying the sale’s most popular entries: a large selection of polychrome painted rattan and wicker conservatory furniture, perfect for the Florida beach house.

Three sessions devoted to antique and vintage toys over two days take place at RSL Auctions in New Jersey on June 2-3.