Art and antiques news from 2015

The art and antiques trade is mourning the loss of prints dealer Justin Skrebowski, who was murdered in what appears to have been a random knife attack in Abingdon.

An antiques shop owner in Kent has removed a blackamoor sign from outside her shop after social media users claimed it was offensive.

The owner of the Bourne Mill Antiques Centre, devastated by fire last month, is hopeful the lower part of the building can reopen later this month.

Topping Bonhams Knightsbridge’s marathon nine-hour sale of items from Hooton Pagnell Hall in South Yorkshire was this 20½in x 2ft 5in (52 x 76cm) watercolour and gouache work by Paul Sandby (1730-1809).

A 1940s Rolex wristwatch whose RAF owner was murdered by the SS after the Great Escape has sold for £165,000 in Buckinghamshire.

An antique narwhal tusk that faced destruction following a dispute over paperwork has been returned to its owner after a judge ruled its confiscation by customs had been “unreasonable”.

International Antiques and Collectors Fairs (IACF) have announced a change of venue and format for their Newbury event.

The latest Russian art sales in London posted the weakest results in over a decade as a drop-off in both demand and supply brought a further downturn in the market.

Paul César Helleu (1859-1927) is best known for his Belle Epoque portraits of beautiful society women.

A 21in (53cm) pair of late 19th century Meissen figures emblematic of Day and Night after the models by Heinrich Schwabe were sold by Bonhams in support of West Dean College’s full-time ceramics conservation programme.

Dr John C Taylor, the horologist, inventor and clockmaker, has been given the Harrison Medal by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers for his services to horology.

Sotheby’s will rekindle their connections with former director John Winter this month thanks to a 186-lot single-owner sale in New Bond Street.

This 11 x 7in (29 x 20cm) Tête de Femme by Alexej Von Jawlensky is one of over 170 works by a roster of some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art that will feature in a two-part single-owner sale to be held by Tajan in Paris next week.

A growing market for silver from the sub-continent culminated in a bid of £11,500 for this 9in (23cm) early 20th century Burmese bowl by Maung Yin Maung of Rangoon.

Senior figures from both UK dealing associations gave an impassioned defence of the antiques trade as a project seeking to gauge the impact of a ban on the sale of ivory works of art was launched in Westminster last week.

In response to the new Consumer Rights Act, the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers have produced two different versions of their model terms and conditions – one for bricks and mortar ‘onsite’ auctions and another for online-only sales.

A major fire has caused significant damage to Bourne Mill Antiques Centre, home to about 70 dealers in Farnham, Surrey.

A pair of royal portraits by the Spanish artist Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (1679-1734) go on sale at auction in Madrid this month.

Two versions of a celebrated German majolica tureen appeared for sale in a matter of weeks – both bringing sterling prices in an otherwise soft market for 19th century ceramics.

An archive comprising Lucian Freud’s sketchbooks, drawings and letters has been acquired by the nation from the estate of the artist through the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme.