Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Museum’s shipshape purchases
31 March 2014The rare First World War German ship’s bell featured in ATG No 2133 has found a very suitable home – the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Lower price tag for Van Dyck self-portrait
31 March 2014An appeal to buy Van Dyck’s final self-portrait for the nation, painted in England in 1640-41, has been given a boost by the news that a lower price is expected.
Call for independent trust to rule on public collection sales
24 March 2014Campaigners are calling on the government to create an independent trust to prevent Southampton City Council selling off artworks from its public collection.
New British Museum gallery for Sutton Hoo
24 March 2014With the British Museum’s Vikings exhibition bringing in the crowds, it is an ideal time for its Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo treasures to come back into focus in a new gallery.
Salisbury Museum declare bid for newly discovered Bronze Age hoard
20 March 2014Salisbury Museum is hoping to host a remarkable hoard of Bronze Age jewellery in a new gallery set to open this summer.
Bell rings in a year of WW1 centenary sales
20 March 2014Theophilus Jones, a private in the Durham Light Infantry, achieved the unfortunate distinction of being the first soldier to be killed on British soil during the First World War.
Portobello joins the silent greats of the silver screen
03 March 2014It’s famously the backdrop to Richard Curtis’s film ‘Notting Hill’, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts as well as the setting for many a TV drama over the years. Now it’s time for Portobello to take the starring role in a new film whose premiere takes place in Soho on March 14.
Auction house ties vendor fees to the reserve, not the hammer price
03 March 2014A Suffolk saleroom set to hold their first auction in May are going for a new business model of flat vendors’ fees based on reserves rather than the hammer price.
Bellows paves the way for US artists at the National Gallery
24 February 2014The purchase of a George Bellows painting has signalled a major change in policy at the National Gallery, ending 190 years of showing only European artists.
Van Dyck given more time
24 February 2014The fundraising campaign to buy Van Dyck’s final self-portrait for the National Portrait Gallery will continue into the summer.
Opportunity knocks for West Dean clock restorer
17 February 2014A young clock conservator, Jonathon Kelly, is being given an opportunity to work on a rare 18th century musical and mechanical clock made by George Pyke.
Card fraud: the battle continues
30 April 2012CREDIT card fraud affecting auction houses and dealers is on the increase all over the country, say the police.