Art finance

Financial arrangements regarding the buying and selling of art have their roots in old-school pawnbrokers. Practices have greatly developed over the years and now encompass art loans and guarantees underwritten by auctioneers or third parties.


3in (7.5cm) diameter freedom box

05 February 2001

UK: In a week when the Irish government was criticised by the European Central Bank for failing to control inflation, early Irish gold and silver soared to unprecedented heights in the UK salerooms.

TIAS quit EBay deal, blaming poor sales and low prices

01 February 2001

A WEEK after ICollector announced a major online bidding deal with EBay, TIAS, the Houston-based Web mall claiming the largest “fixed price” source of antiques and collectables on the Internet, have withdrawn from a similar arrangement.

Davis signature works its magic into Sixties Royal Worcester

29 January 2001

Modern ceramics in keen demand by collectors and dealers UK: A HIGH turnover of £500-1000 lots in Lawrences' auction of Antique Furniture and Effects on December 5, 6 and 7 contributed more to the £255,000 sale total than any individual high-value entries on a day when, unusually at a provincial sale, the strongest prices came for ceramics – British, Oriental and European – rather than for the furniture entries.

Links to Gillow raise bids on table

22 January 2001

UK: FURNITURE and clocks made the running at the South Coast auctioneers’ final sale before Christmas, where local dealers were doing some last-minute shopping.

Government to compensate family over Nazi loss painting

22 January 2001

UK: ARTS Minister Alan Howarth has announced that the Government will pay £125,000 compensation to a family forced to sell a painting as they fled the Nazis.

French and German doubts on resale rights

20 December 1999

EU: BRITAIN’S opponents on the droit de suite issue were in retreat last week with the emergence of telling evidence from France and Germany (the two main champions of artists’ resale rights) that the levy is both damaging to art markets and of little benefit to living artists.

World art auction turnover up 3.5 per cent

25 October 1999

THE International art auction market registered a 3.5 per cent increase for the year ending September 1, 1999, according to Art Sales Index figures.

New law boosts treasure reports

20 September 1999

UK: SINCE new Treasure Trove laws were introduced over a year ago the number of reported treasure finds has increased sevenfold, from 25 a year to 179.

Christie’s first six months up by nearly 20%

13 September 1999

SINGLE OWNER collections and strong selectivity are the key factors behind the 19 per cent sterling increase in Christie’s worldwide auction turnover for the first six months of 1999, say the auctioneers.

Mallett see fall in profits after 1998 boom

06 September 1999

UK: BOND Street dealers Mallett have revealed a year on year 18 per cent fall in pre-tax profits for the first six months of 1999 to £2.68m.

Sotheby’s first half sales up by 7%

23 August 1999

FIRST half results for Sotheby’s parent company, Sotheby’s Holdings Inc, show a decline on last year although auction sales results have enjoyed a healthy increase.

Buyers count the cost as State pre-empts entire château sale

01 June 1999

FRANCE: THE FRENCH government’s apparent disregard for their art market, reflected by the repeated postponement of the auction reform (see above), was further illustrated by the dramatic last-minute cancellation of the sale of the contents of the former royal château at Randan in the Auvergne.

Art imports matched exports last year

19 April 1999

UK: THE VALUE of art and antiques imported into Britain from outside the EU last year came close to parity with exports for the first time since 1973, when the UK was last a net importer in this field. According to Customs & Excise records for 1998, exports of art and antiques rose slightly to £1318m, but imports were up by 52 per cent at £1316m.

Politics of funding

19 April 1999

UK: FIGURES released by the Heritage Lottery Fund show that despite the rapid decline in new grants being allocated for acquisitions by museums and galleries, existing allocations still account for a large percentage of capital spending.

Unrecorded Minton majolica vase soars to £4000

12 April 1999

UK: AFTER extensive coverage in the relevant media (not least the many column inches given over to the subject in the Antiques Trade Gazette), Minton majolica productions are a pretty well-known quantity in the salerooms today.

Boom beginning then BADA hits worrying loss of momentum

05 April 1999

Did dropping datelines alter customers’ perceptions?

Records tumble in the provinces

05 April 1999

UK: TWO new major records in the past ten days are proof positive that provincial salerooms can still attract the very best quality amid all the talk of availability declining.

Goal average rises for remote bidding sales

30 March 1999

NOT a week goes by without yet another development in the fast-moving world of digital auctions.

Silver reaches 10-year high

24 May 1997

Silver prices reached their highest level for a decade last week when dealers learned that the American billionaire investor Warren Buffet had bought 20 per cent of the world's total supply.

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