Front Page and News

It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but nevertheless rare concert posters are selling for large sums at auction.

The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) is developing new technology to enable remote interaction between dealers and clients.

Christie’s seven sales dominated the New York Asian art series. With a couple of sales still to go across the weekend, the firm’s running total was close to $35m, more than twice the aggregate of its competitors.

Less than six months after holding its first auction in its Pall Mall home, Stanley Gibbons’ The Fine Art Auction Group (TEFAAG) has left the central London premises and is in the process of selling the lease.

The reopening of the Metropolitan Police’s Arts and Antiques Unit has been delayed until later this year, ATG has learned. However, the force has denied reports it is to permanently close.

Two new international auction partnerships have formed in the coin market, both involving London firms.

A rediscovered Francis Bacon is to be offered at Christie’s next month with a £7m-10m estimate.

Lawyers and accountants have drawn up documents laying out the issues facing the art and antiques trade to inform government as it negotiates the terms of Brexit.

Artist’s Resale Right, the royalty payable by a buyer to an artist or an artist’s estate for a painting resold for €1000 or more, is likely to be adopted by the UK along with other EU laws after Brexit.

The new art hub at Cromwell Place plans to host exhibitions by international museums, release specially developed technology for art-world professionals and provide flexible working spaces and art storage, it was revealed last week.

A set of four Victorian kangaroos salts made by silversmiths Hunt & Roskell sold for Aus$70,000 (£42,000) as part of the Fairfax collection at Leonard Joel in Sydney on August 31-September 2.

Christie’s has said Turkey’s claim to own an ancient Anatolian idol that has been on American soil for over half a century sets “a disastrous precedent for collectors, museums and the art market”.

For the first time eBay is applying VAT to the fees of its business sellers.

A group of six Indo-European solid ebony chairs (sold for £26,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Dawson’s of Maidenhead on August 26. The buyer bidding online via thesaleroom.com was from the London trade.

A sapphire and diamond coronet designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria in 1840 has been ’saved for the nation’ after its purchase for the London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Christie’s has reacted quickly to rival Sotheby’s announcement of a new premium structure (ATG No 2306) by increasing its own buyer’s premium.

Sotheby’s has upped the ante in the digital auction space by scrapping buyer’s premium for online-only sales.

The Chinese auction market is attempting to tackle non-payments with a series of initiatives debated at the Chinese Antiques and Artwork Auction International Forum last week.

A Song dynasty brush washer, one of the few examples of Ru guanyao court ware still in private hands, will be offered by Sotheby’s Hong Kong with an estimate in excess of HK$100m on October 3.

Seven phone bidders competed for this 15th century gold heart-shaped brooch, a medieval gift of love from the time of the Wars of the Roses, at Hansons in Derbyshire.