Art finance

THE art and antiques trade survived largely unscathed from the widespread riots seen in England last week. However, many businesses across the country were forced to close...

THE competition over private treaty sales headlines Sotheby’s and Christie’s latest set of results which cover the first half of 2011.

THE threat to the art and antiques industry posed by the proposed ending of cheques has been lifted after it was announced that the banking industry will not scrap them after all.

THIS year’s British Antique Dealers’ Association survey shows that annual combined sales of BADA members are estimated at £698 million. The figure is almost unchanged from last year.

UNDER a new fees structure, private users of eBay will face a flat ten per cent charge for items sold under the ‘Buy It Now’ price listing.

SOTHEBY’S made a profit in the first three months of 2011 – that profit may have been only $2.4m, but it compares with a loss of $2.2m for the same period last year.

SOTHEBY’S latest Asian series represented an all-time high for the firm in Hong Kong.

THE events of recent weeks have echoes of the infamous Bunker Hunt era that saw scrap silver prices spike during an era of high oil prices and revolution in Iran.

THE highest bullion prices for a generation are helping the cause of much general silver at auction, but the real strength of the market is for the better-quality smallwork where weight counts for nought.

WITH the arts budget severely squeezed in the government spending review, the announcement that The Art Fund will be dramatically expanding their funding programme provided some welcome news for Britain’s museums and public galleries.

TOP-END furniture dealers Mallett made a £1.3m loss last year, a 30 per cent improvement on 2009.

THERE is growing concern in the art and antiques trade about the termination of the cheque guarantee system this summer.

CUSTOMS & Excise (HMRC) have launched a new guide through Business Link to advise small businesses on the records they are obliged to keep.

CHINA has pushed the United Kingdom into third place as a player in the world art market and is now second only to the United States.

ART and antiques could be one of the few winners in a UK government review to tighten up and streamline tax-relief rules.

CONSOLIDATED annual sales at Sotheby’s were up 74% to £3.17bn ($4.8bn), including buyer’s premium, putting the firm marginally behind Christie’s, who posted results of £3.3bn ($5bn) last month.

LONDON’S latest series of Contemporary art sales put in a robust performance. Auctioneers posted high selling rates and saw the greatest depth of bidding since the art market downturn two years ago.

CHRISTIE’S registered a 53% rise in global auction sales to achieve a record premium-inclusive total of £3.3bn/$5bn for 2010.

THE parlous state of the English antique furniture market is confirmed this week with a sharp fall in the Antique Collectors' Club's Annual Furniture Index.

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