Features

As 2018 dawns, ATG journalists once again engage in some soothsaying, with the help of industry experts to read the runes.

Online. Offline. Far East. Middle East. Though measurement of the art sector is notoriously tricky, partly relying as it does on sample rather than full dealer data, art market reports proliferated in 2017. The month of March proved the high season.

In the past year dealers and auctioneers have used a variety of ways to raise their profile on social media, from puppy posts to videos of restoration in action...

With the closure of Christie’s South Kensington in July and restructuring at parent company Christie’s, many former staff were on the move in 2017. But, as this selection suggests, they were not the only ones trading places.

2017 produced some eye-catching prices in the UK’s regional salerooms. Here are some stand-out lots...

A selection of the leading lots sold above estimate via thesaleroom.com in 2017 suggests a thriving online market for the esoteric...

Our selection of reader letters summing up the issues that roused your passions in 2017...

While the big issues in the industry dominated our column inches in 2017, here are some stories that stoked our headline writers’ love of the humble pun...

Punctuated by moments of real drama, the past 12 months have been as lively as any other in recent memory for the art and antiques trade. Here, ATG journalists analyse some of the high points and challenges

Here we look back at some of the notable people the trade lost in the past 12 months...

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi set the highest price ever for an artwork sold at auction when it took $400m ($450m with premium) at Christie’s New York on November 15.

Ivory, the general election, fakes and the closure of a certain well-known London saleroom were the stories that resonated online with readers in 2017.

The War of 1812 was something of a shock to the Royal Navy. Still basking in the glow of victories such as the Battle of the Nile and of course Trafalgar, British ships seemed unbeatable.

Gadgets fascinate collector Maurice Collins but wartime posters on display at a January fair also proclaim his social history interest.

Evocative propaganda posters are being offered by specialist auction house Onslows on December 15 from a conflict that raged between the world wars.

The protocols around selling antique firearms and ordnance are increasingly strict. We talk to auctioneer Angus Ashworth about the perils that even an ex-army man can face.

We know how it usually goes with most stand-out Victoria Crosses offered at auction: Lord Ashcroft buys them and they go on display at his gallery in the Imperial War Museum in London. But the record for a VC sold at auction, which has recently been set at London saleroom Morton & Eden, actually went to another bidder with very deep pockets – but thankfully for medals enthusiasts, someone else who is looking to put it on public view.

Amid current stories in the media of drastic Royal Navy cutbacks, it is difficult to imagine a sizeable task force of British ships sailing thousands of miles to fight a war. But in 1982 HMS Brilliant (F90) was part of that fleet heading to the South Atlantic to take on, and beat, the Argentinians who had invaded the Falkland Islands.

Marine and scientific specialist Charles Miller (20% buyer’s premium) featured several U-boat-related lots from various owners in his November 7 sale at the west London auction hub of 25 Blythe Road.

Among the weapons in demand from collectors are Eastern arms and cased pistols, judging by recent auctions. Here we take a look at a few examples – and a specific arms and armour feature will appear in an upcoming issue.