Front Page and News

Two new international auction partnerships have formed in the coin market, both involving London firms.

A rediscovered Francis Bacon is to be offered at Christie’s next month with a £7m-10m estimate.

Lawyers and accountants have drawn up documents laying out the issues facing the art and antiques trade to inform government as it negotiates the terms of Brexit.

Artist’s Resale Right, the royalty payable by a buyer to an artist or an artist’s estate for a painting resold for €1000 or more, is likely to be adopted by the UK along with other EU laws after Brexit.

The new art hub at Cromwell Place plans to host exhibitions by international museums, release specially developed technology for art-world professionals and provide flexible working spaces and art storage, it was revealed last week.

A set of four Victorian kangaroos salts made by silversmiths Hunt & Roskell sold for Aus$70,000 (£42,000) as part of the Fairfax collection at Leonard Joel in Sydney on August 31-September 2.

Christie’s has said Turkey’s claim to own an ancient Anatolian idol that has been on American soil for over half a century sets “a disastrous precedent for collectors, museums and the art market”.

For the first time eBay is applying VAT to the fees of its business sellers.

A group of six Indo-European solid ebony chairs (sold for £26,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Dawson’s of Maidenhead on August 26. The buyer bidding online via thesaleroom.com was from the London trade.

A sapphire and diamond coronet designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria in 1840 has been ’saved for the nation’ after its purchase for the London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Christie’s has reacted quickly to rival Sotheby’s announcement of a new premium structure (ATG No 2306) by increasing its own buyer’s premium.

Sotheby’s has upped the ante in the digital auction space by scrapping buyer’s premium for online-only sales.

The Chinese auction market is attempting to tackle non-payments with a series of initiatives debated at the Chinese Antiques and Artwork Auction International Forum last week.

A Song dynasty brush washer, one of the few examples of Ru guanyao court ware still in private hands, will be offered by Sotheby’s Hong Kong with an estimate in excess of HK$100m on October 3.

Seven phone bidders competed for this 15th century gold heart-shaped brooch, a medieval gift of love from the time of the Wars of the Roses, at Hansons in Derbyshire.

Sir Stanley Matthews’ first football contract showing the legend was paid a princely £5 a week has sold at Derbyshire saleroom Hansons.

It’s late August and the art market continues its summer slumber.

Dealers and auctioneers are again being targeted by scam guides that seek to extort large sums of money in return for inclusion in worthless trade listings.

The new Criminal Finances Act, which is expected to come into force in September, gives police the power to seize art, antiques and jewellery in the same way as if it was cash.

Chiswick Auctions is to open its South Kensington showroom manned by a group of former Christie’s staff early next month.