Auctions

Dealers, collectors and auctioneers of antique firearms are being invited to a meeting in London to discuss proposed changes to the law governing the sale and ownership of such weapons.

Quite possibly the largest sale of Derbyshire blue john ever held is going under the hammer at Fellows of Birmingham.

An impressive collection of pictures, studio pottery, furniture, personal effects and letters has been consigned to auctioneers Mitchells of Cockermouth from the estate of Mary Burkett, former director of Abbot Hall art gallery in Kendal.

Guillaume Cerutti, chief executive of Sotheby’s France and European deputy chairman, is to leave and join Christie’s as president for London, Continental Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India.

Two regional auctioneers – Halls of Shrewsbury and Bigwoods of Stratford-upon-Avon – are joining forces to conduct an ‘on-the-premises’ sale of art and antiques owned by the colourful publisher Felix Dennis (1947-2014).

The highlight of Chorley’s latest two-day sale at Prinknash Abbey was this unusual late 18th century Lombardy escritoire.

Showground fair organisers have reacted with disappointment to the news that exhibitors must pay 20% VAT on pitch rentals.

For many of the 40- and 50-somethings who trawl the internet for Star Wars toys, the ‘holy grail’ object is the Palitoy Death Star play set.

JUST a month before their first scheduled sale, online auctioneers Fine Art Bourse have gone into receivership.

Paperweights from makers such as Caithness, Mdina, Selkirk, Wedgwood and Whitefriars go under the hammer at auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester on August 7.

The 2015 NAVA Auctioneer of the Year competition takes place on September 23 at the Oxford Belfry.

A silver medal awarded to a lifeboatman who rescued sailors from a sinking ship in hurricane-force winds off the Kent coast in 1891 is to be sold at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Yellow-ground wares from the Vincennes soft-paste porcelain workshops are great rarities.

Dutch online auction business Catawiki has raised $82m to build its business.

As dealers’ and buyers’ thoughts turn more to Pinot Grigio by the pool than art and antiques in August, only a few fairs rattle around to provide solace for those eager to earn or spend some money.

A photo album showing the former King Edward VIII giving Nazi salutes is on offer for the first time in 30 years, auctioneers Morgan Evans have revealed.

Opposition to controversial new laws governing cultural heritage in Germany is gathering pace. Auctioneers, dealers and collectors are backing a petition ‘preserving the right to privately collect’ and calling for German the government to rethink its proposals.

The George Cross medal group awarded to Second World War heroine Violette Szabό has sold for £260,000 at London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb.

North-eastern auctioneers Addisons are closing down after almost a century in business.

It was included in one of the Ashmolean Museum’s greatest bequests but this magnificent salt cellar was subsequently discovered to be Nazi loot. Recently restituted, it soared to £850,000 at auction.