Museum acquisitions

The Honresfield Library of British Literature, containing more than 500 manuscripts, first editions and letters including works by the Brontë family, Robert Burns and Walter Scott, has been purchased by the Friends of the National Libraries for £15.3m.

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angles has acquired an early first-century marble bust of the Roman general Germanicus, the adopted son of the Emperor Tiberius and father of Caligula.

A portrait by renowned society artist Thomas Hudson (1701-79) has been secured for National Trust property Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has acquired a painting by Venetian artist Jacopo Bassano (c.1510-1592).

Thomas Coulborn & Sons has celebrated BADA Week by announcing the sale of an 18th century commode to Leeds Museums & Galleries for close to £200,000.

A hoard of Roman bronzes discovered by metal detectors and sold at auction by Hansons in May has been sold to the Yorkshire Museum.

The Chateau de Versailles in France has purchased a sculpture of Louis XIV’s (1643-1715) surgeon.

The National Museum Wales has received a €20,000 (£17,130) grant to restore an Édouard Manet (1832-83) picture.

The Meadows Museum in Dallas, Texas has announced that it was the buyer of a Spanish Baroque Old Master at a Christie’s auction last year.

The National Gallery is to acquire a portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) with the help of charitable donations and advice from Christie’s.

A dozen items deemed national treasures were bought by institutions between May 2018 and April 2020 with a value of £7.6m, according to the latest report.

France’s Ministry of Culture announced the acquisition by the state of the ‘120 days of Sodom’ by the Marquis de Sade and a number of other manuscripts.