Front Page and News

In 1793, well in advance of the Slave Trade Act (1807) and the Slavery Abolition Act (1833), 275 British men, women and children attempted to settle an uninhabited island off the coast of Sierra Leone.

The last known drawn self-portrait of Modern British artist Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) has been acquired by the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham.

Christie’s has axed its stand-alone sales of topographical pictures and will incorporate the specialist department into the 19th century picture department based in London. Consignments in this area will now be offered in auctions in the wider category.

Fat Sod, Skinhead, Colin the Amiable Crocodile and Victor Pratt the Stupid Twat were introduced to the public in the form of a comic offered in a Newcastle pub in December 1979. Forty-one years later that comic is still going strong: Viz.

Paris auction centre Hôtel Drouot has been forced to close its premises after French president Emmanuel Macron announced a second national lockdown.

The latest evening sales of Impressionist & Modern and Contemporary art held at Sotheby’s (25/20/13.9 buyer’s premium + 1% overhead premium) in New York produced very high-selling rates but they were somewhat slimmer affairs than the normal run of sales in this category.

A First World War ‘dead man’s penny’ memorial plaque awarded to a soldier believed to be the first black officer commissioned into a British army regiment during the conf lict and the first black officer casualty is coming up at auction.

An early 19th century royal manuscript produced for the Nawab of Sachin, c.1830, was given the Antiques Trade Gazette prize for Outstanding Indian or Islamic Work of Art from an Auction House when the annual Asian Art in London awards were announced last week.

A Chinese export dinner service used in the home of three Georgian prime ministers comes for sale this week as part of Asian Art in London.

Christie’s is staging a sale of cricketing memorabilia from the collection of Sir Geoffrey Boycott in a timed online sale that closes on November 16.

Asian Art in London 2020 award winners were revealed via live broadcast last week.

An archive cleared from Bray Studios after Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson’s production company wrapped up its final series of Terrahawks in the mid-1980s is coming to auction at Surrey firm Ewbank’s on November 30.

Auction houses in Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland are adjusting their sales calendars to accommodate the latest set of Covid-19 restrictions.

A Rolex Submariner 5512, bought for around £70 by its original owner in 1964, has sold for £175,000 at auction in Wiltshire.

Paris auction group Hôtel Drouot has reorganised its operations and will soon allow non-shareholder businesses to operate from its premises.

A government plan to end VAT-free shopping for international visitors next year will impact the UK art and antiques trade, say dealers.

The East Asian tranche of the new-format Asian Art in London event runs from October 29-November 7.

The sale at Wessex Auction Rooms (17% buyer’s premium) in Chippenham on October 17 included this lot catalogued as ‘a retro banded glass decanter and glasses together with a set of similar shot glasses’. The estimate was just £15-25.

An ‘original and complete’ copy of William Shakespeare’s First Folio of plays set an auction record in the Exceptional sale at Christie’s New York.