North America

The celebrated Columbus letter announcing his discovery of a New World, sold for $620,000 (£462,000), was very much the star turn at Bonhams New York (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on September 26 (see ATG No 2313).

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi will more than double the Old Master auction record when it is offered at Christie’s New York next month.

An unusual medals sale has led to an unusual outcome. An application is to be made to export from Canada the Victoria Cross group won by heroic Lieutenant Colonel David Currie after it was bought by a British private collector.

“My lord, because I know that you will take pleasure in the great victory which our Lord has granted me on this voyage, I write you this letter, by which you will learn how… I crossed to the Indies, where I found many islands populated with innumerable inhabitants; and I have taken possession of all of them…”

TEFAF’s move onto the New York scene, with a spring and autumn fair in the heart of Manhattan, swings into its next stage with the second edition of TEFAF New York Fall from October 28-November 1.

An exceptionally rare bird’s eye view of Chicago before the devastating fire of 1871 that destroyed so much of the old city was sold for $160,000 (£118,520) by local saleroom Leslie Hindman (20/20/12% buyer’s premium) on September 15.

The Master Drawings New York (MDNY) initiative has expanded its brief for 2018 to include painting and sculpture dealers among its 30 participants for the first time.

A 130-lot collection of studio pottery, featuring many of the best-known British names in the field, both past and present, was the focus of Cottone’s (18% buyer’s premium) sale of the estate of Annette McGuire Cravens in Geneseo, New York on September 22.

The antiques trade in the southern states of America is back in business following the upheavals of hurricanes Irma and Harvey.

Some of the very first pieces of Chinese porcelain to arrive in Elizabethan Britain were mounted in silver-gilt to proclaim their luxury status.

America’s love affair with history shows no signs of coming to an end.

The New York Jewellery & Watch Show returns to the city for its third staging from October 27-30.

October is one of two periods each year when New York salerooms put the spotlight on photographs. Here ATG selects highlights ranging from mid-19th century daguerreotypes to works from the 21st century...

ATG's selection of auction highlights coming up around the US, written by Katherine Boyle.

In a market subject to the vagaries of collecting fashion, success is hard-earned for America’s leading regional salerooms.

For some of the more than 90 exhibitors standing at the second TEFAF New York Fall (October 28-November 1), it is just one in a flurry of international fairs that now mark the autumn calendar.

Harry Potter’s 20th birthday celebrations continue apace – with a new record for a standard copy of 'The Philosopher’s Stone'.