Art and antiques news from 2015

Sotheby’s are re-starting dedicated sales of Scottish art, beginning in November 2015.

The parties caught in a conundrum over proper title to two of the recently rediscovered Wolsey Angels have formed an extraordinary syndicate to resolve the issue.

This Tiffany Studios c.1905 table lamp proved the highlight of Denhams’ recent fine art sale in Horsham, Sussex. It was an unusual visitor to the UK regional saleroom.

The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge have promised to reveal more evidence backing the attribution to Michelangelo of a pair of bronze figures of two nude males riding panthers.

Bonhams throw down the gauntlet at Irma Stern Museum after Strauss & Co's China Girl TV stunt

Nostalgia is an important part of toy collecting, one that encourages otherwise fiscally astute middle-aged men to part with large sums of money for unblemished versions of the toys they had – or wished they had – as children.

Christie’s evening sale post-war & Contemporary art in London posted a decent performance with some of the biggest names in the market headlining the auction.

A large abstract painting by Gerhard Richter drew dramatic bidding last night and led Sotheby’s Contemporary art evening sale when it was knocked down at £27m.

Sales of coins and medals at UK auctions have doubled in value over the past decade to £44.7m.

The Stanley Gibbons Group has won the Deal of the Year at the 2015 Quoted Company Awards for its acquisition of Noble Investments.

Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions, part of the Stanley Gibbons/Noble Investment stable of companies, have boosted their expertise further with a recruitment drive.

The Black Beauty, the prototype for all Gibson Les Paul guitars, will appear at Guernsey Auctions’ February 19 sale in New York.

The best dissertation by a student on the Masters course in Art Appraisal (Professional Practice) at Kingston University will win a prize courtesy of Antiques Trade Gazette.

A series of works by Joan Miró gave a major boost to Christie’s latest evening auction of Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art.

Five works by Claude Monet helped Sotheby’s set a new high for a London auction of Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art last night.

The Antique Collectors’ Club’s Annual Furniture Index (AFI) registered its seventh successive fall in 2014. However, only two categories depreciated substantially.

Exceptional pieces of antique furniture play by quite different rules to the more standard items when it comes to price performance.

The toy ripped open from plastic and cardboard may bring joy to a child – but it is the simple packaging that makes the big money when that child becomes a collector with an eye on pounds, not play value.

Strong sales of Modern and Contemporary art plus the Félix Marcilhac decorative arts collection helped propel Sotheby’s to the highest auction total in France in 2014, with sales figures of €213m.