News topics

THE Newark-based fairs organisers B2B Events are launching a fair in May at a new venue in the East Midlands.

THIS exceptional 17th century map, depicting settlements in Canada and North America, was unearthed by Somerset auctioneers Lawrences in the attic of The House of Glennie, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire.

BONHAMS have appointed Fergus Lyons as head of furniture.

ANTIQUITIES dealer Malcolm Hay must wait until February 18 for the appeal against his conviction for trafficking in illegally excavated artefacts to be heard in the Greek courts.

AUCTIONEERS and dealers should be wary of an absentee buyer who offers to pay by BACS and then have goods collected by taxi.

ESTIMATED at $20,000-30,000, this Vezzi porcelain octagonal teapot and cover attracted great interest among European buyers at the latest sale held by Skinner in Boston.

THIS monumental micromosaic panoramic depiction of Rome, measuring 4ft 11in (1.50m) across, will be offered by Myers Auction Gallery in St Petersburg, Florida on January 30.

LARGELY thanks to the voracity of Chinese buyers, four of the UK’s heavyweight regional auctioneers enjoyed record sales figures in 2010.

SPOKESMAN for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Chris Ewbank, described 2010 as a breakthrough year for live online bidding.

TOP lot at Bonhams’ latest sale of English and Continental glass was this impressive 15in (40cm) high, early lidded punchbowl from c.1685.

UNDERLINING the impact of the market for Chinese works of art on the UK auction landscape, Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis posted total hammer sales in 2010 of £23.36m.

THE latest antiquities series at the major rooms in New York produced strong selling rates, a slew of high individual prices and two blockbuster results.

MUNICH saleroom Ketterer Kunst enjoyed a record year in 2010, posting annual sales of €21.6m (€26m including premium).

Just days after Sotheby’s announced the sale of a 16th century ivory mask and five other works from the Kingdom of Benin, the auctioneers said they have been withdrawn.

A recent sale conducted by Astons of Dudley included a collection of merchandise belonging to a former Palitoy UK sales representative.

DO light, sound and video installations constitute works of art? Not according to the European Commission, who have unexpectedly reversed a decision made in a UK tax tribunal in 2008, and refused to classify works by established contemporary artists Dan Flavin (b.1933) and Bill Viola (b.1951) as “art”.

THE year 2010 ended as it began with spectacular prices for Chinese works of art.

WHILE a number of auctioneers had the snow to contend with, Steven B Bruce faced a double obstacle to their latest sale, now to be held in the new year.

IN London on February 17, Sotheby's will sell a rediscovered 16th century Benin ivory mask – and five other rare works from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria – consigned by the family of a key participant in the controversial Punitive Expedition. The mask alone is estimated at £3.5m-4.5m.

OFFERED this month at Christie's New York, a copy of Abel Buell's 1784 New and Correct Map of the United States of America... became the most expensive map ever sold at auction.