1) Thieves steal €1bn of precious baroque treasures from German museum
Dresden’s Royal Palace has been targeted by thieves who cut the electricity supply to enter exhibition rooms at its museum containing thousands of valuable antiques.
One section of the Grünes Gewölbe, or Green Vault, in Dresden that houses thousands of jewels and objet d'art that had been collected by 17th century ruler August the Strong.
Image by Artefakte via Wikimedia Commons licence.
2) High society portrait, 19th century sketch books and an oak chair owned by Elisabeth Frink – five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
ATG’s selection of hammer highlights this week includes an oak chair from the collection of Dame Elisabeth Frink that made over 12-times estimate.
A Gothic style oak dugout chair from the collection of Dame Elisabeth Frink – £3800 at Charterhouse.
3) World’s most expensive natural history book flies into auction at Sotheby’s
A copy of The Birds of America by John James Audubon (1785-1851) will be offered at Sotheby’s Fine Books and Manuscripts sale on December 18 in New York.
A flamingo, one of the 435 coloured plates depicting 1065 birds in The Birds of America; from Original Drawings by John James Audubon that was published in 1827-38. Image credit: Sotheby's.
4) Fundraising effort for appeal against ivory ban ramps up
Dealers and collectors granted an appeal against a High Court ruling on the Ivory Act 2018 are redoubling their efforts to raise the necessary funds for legal fees.
FACT directors outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the October hearing: (left to right) Paul Moss, former owner of Sydney L. Moss, Rosemary Bandini and Alastair Gibson, Gibson Antiques.
5) Online platform 1stdibs subscription fees rise by 42%
Antiques and luxury items platform 1stdibs is increasing its monthly subscription fee to dealers by 42%, from £350 to £500. The firm says the move reflects the increasing cost of maintaining the online portal.
One dealer described the fees rise at 1stdibs as “a big one to absorb” but added that the site provided his business with “access to the all-important US decorator market”.
This list is based on unique users for individual news stories over the period November 21-27, 2019.
