2011

The range of British die-casts is so massive that enthusiasts tend to narrow the field and collect either by factory, period, vehicle type, category – or a combination of these. Nostalgia has a big part to play.

VECTIS have auctioned some exceptional Dinky collections over the past decade, but what made the David Ireland collection sale stand out was quality over quantity.

Old collections are the lifeblood of the arms and armour market, bringing carefully selected items with cast-iron provenance back to the market.

Moorcroft Boy recorded one of the great comebacks in racing history when he recovered from a horrific injury at Aintree in 1995 to win the Scottish National the following year.

A SPATE of raids between October and December have seen pieces of furniture by Robert Thompson stolen from rural churches in Yorkshire.

MORE cash has been made available to provide tax breaks for people who donate art to public institutions – and now it can apply during their lifetime.

THIS well-preserved Charles II delft portrait charger established a new house record for Rosebery's of West Norwood in south east London on December 13 with a hammer price of £105,000.

THE European Commission Impact Study on the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) has not been able to establish how far the Right’s introduction is linked to the recent decline in the European art market.

ONLY two Scottish 17th century lace-back spoons are recorded by the National Museum of Scotland so this example offered by Dreweatts at Donnington Priory was quite a rarity.

FAME, rarity and the finest provenance propelled a c.1795 gilded and painted Worcester vase and cover to a predictable top spot at the latest sale held by Brightwells at Leominster.

ALL may not be lost as the Artists' Resale Right is extended on January 1.

SILVER dealer Daniel Bexfield has claimed a moral victory over the Burlington Arcade planning row after most of the controversial proposals were withdrawn – and others turned down at the consultation meeting on December 8.

PROFESSIONAL Advisers to the International Art Market (PAIAM) has launched an online directory of professional members.

THE strong competition that emerged for some of the most exciting pictures at the latest Old Master sales in London helped lift the series and compensated for the lack of interest at lower levels.

This previously unrecorded and beautifully painted dish, dated 1537, by the maiolica artist Francesco Xanto Avelli (c.1486-1542) sold for £325,000 at Lyon & Turnbull's latest in Edinburgh.

THE selectivity in the Chinese ceramics and works of art market seen in London in early November was repeated during Christie’s and Bonhams’ latest Asian series in Hong Kong.

IT was a sale tipped to defy a generally lacklustre market, and boy did it deliver! Some 590 items from the estate of Dr Ann Lewis were auctioned by Mossgreen on November 7 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

ONE pointer to the buoyancy of a particular collecting field is whether or not it merits its own dedicated sale.

A HIGHLIGHT of the autumn Russian art series in London was Sotheby's sell-out 127-lot sale of works from the family of Alexander Benois (1870-1960), a name synonymous with the Ballet Russes.

DOMINIC Winter, who included the Alfred A. Charleswoth collection of old railway tickets as part of their recent collectors' and transport sale, had only a limited track record on which to rely – they sold a rare ticket for around £2000 some seven years ago.