UK

The United Kingdom accounts for more than one fifth of the global art market sales and is the second biggest art market after the US.

Through auctioneers, dealers, fairs and markets - and a burgeoning online sector - buyers, collectors and sellers of art and antiques can easily access a vibrant network of intermediaries and events around the country. The UK's museums also house a wealth of impressive collections

Guanyin

Chinese goddess figure by celebrated Ming potter smashes estimate at West Sussex auction

06 March 2019

A Dehua blanc de chine figure of Guanyin sold for a surprise £39,000 – some 130 times the top estimate - at Bellmans in Wisborough Green, West Sussex last month.

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Lost Doctor Who Daleks episode lives again as archive comes to auction

06 March 2019

‘Lost’ episodes of TV series have become sought-after items, not least among Doctor Who fans. Of interest to collectors is an archive of photographs and copies of plans from The Power of the Daleks – the completely missing third serial of the fourth season first broadcast by the BBC in six weekly parts from November 5-December 10, 1966.

Tony Benn archive heads to British Library after help from auction house Christie’s

06 March 2019

The archive of Labour’s longest-serving MP Tony Benn (1925-2014) has been accepted by the British Library.

Aide memoire

Five highlights from Fellows’ first Fine Jewellery auction

05 March 2019

Jewellery and watch specialist Fellows is to introduce a new sale category this month focused upon the better quality lots it sells from its Birmingham saleroom.

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The late England goalkeeper Gordon Banks' shirt and an early All Blacks kit score at auction

05 March 2019

Sport shirts at regional auction houses in Cardiff and Surrey win fans.

Bonhams

Bonhams becomes latest auction house to raise buyer’s premium

04 March 2019

Auction house Bonhams has raised its buyer’s premium levels effective from today.

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Ticket to ride from one of the UK's oldest railways draws bidders at Scarborough auction

04 March 2019

A trio of tickets issued by one of the UK’s first passenger railways sold for £1050 at a recent sale held by David Duggleby (21% buyer’s premium) in Scarborough.

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Solid competition but slimmer sales for London’s Impressionist and Modern art auctions

04 March 2019

The latest Impressionist & Modern art auction series in London generated decent competition on a few key lots but the overall total was the lowest for a February series in this category since 2016.

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Pick of the week: Quilt from a life of cold comfort sells to Bowes Museum at Tennants' auction

04 March 2019

The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle was among the buyers when Tennants sold 13 quilts that belonged to Durham hill farmer Hannah Hauxwell (1926-2018) on February 9.

Jug

Six lots to watch at auction this week including an Elizabethan jug, a Constable sketch and a German Expressionist painting

04 March 2019

With estimates from £100-$50,000, here are six previews from upcoming sales this week.

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Winter auction greeted with warm response

04 March 2019

The plethora of single-collection sales at the start of the year was not at the expense of old-fashioned auctions offering good-quality offerings across the range of dealing and collecting – such as the Winter Fine Arts sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester.

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Orientalist collection back in saleroom for first time in three decades

04 March 2019

Helped by conservatively pitched estimates, a clutch of middle-market Orientalist pictures achieved some modest growth in value on their first return to auction in three decades.

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Mayfair gallery hosts first solo Mulas exhibition

04 March 2019

This 1962 photograph of artist Lucio Fontana, below, is included in the UK’s first solo show of works by Ugo Mulas (1928-73).

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Dishy looker to turn heads at Welsh fair

04 March 2019

Towy Antiques Fairs kick off on Sunday, March 10, with the first of their eight antiques and fleamarkets in 2019 held at the Carmarthen Showground in south Wales.

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Weighty result at Stroud

04 March 2019

What seems to have been an overdue clear-out at Monmouth Trading Standards department led to half a dozen lots of imperial weights and measures being consigned to Stroud Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).

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Revivalist furniture full of life at auction

04 March 2019

Regarded in their time as examples of the finest cabinet-making rather than simply reproductions, good 19th century French revivalist furniture remains in demand.

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Previews: £30,000 plus

04 March 2019

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

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Double window panels at triple value

04 March 2019

Two Victorian stained-glass and leaded window panels entered by the same vendor trebled the estimates in selling to the same UK online bidder at Special Auction Services (17.5% buyer’s premium) on February 5.

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Hornby-Dublo on track for £2400 result

04 March 2019

Travelling from Glasgow to the south of England courtesy of a commission bid, this Hornby-Dublo train EDG 7 tank goods set, right, went at 10 times the lower estimate at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) sale on February 1.

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CS Lewis and Keynes among Oxford highlights

04 March 2019

A very rare and inscribed example of CS Lewis’ first published work, a 1919 collection of verses previewed ATG No 2377, was sold recently in Oxford for £2800. Spirits in Bondage was part of the extensive book section of a January 30-31 sale at Mallams (23% buyer’s premium).

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