Art and antiques news from 2015

Bonhams are to launch a series of multi-disciplined sales for British and European decorative arts in their flagship New Bond Street rooms.

Found in the attic of a large Welsh house, this watercolour by Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) of St Paul’s Cathedral drew dramatic competition at Chorley’s sale in Gloucestershire.

The tribal art dealer Anthony JP Meyer, who specialises in Oceanic art, has a gallery on the rue des Beaux Arts in the heart of Paris’ Left Bank dealer district. He is a regular at ‘TEFAF Maastricht’ and at the Paris tribal trail known as the ‘Parcours des Mondes’, which takes place in September. Here he discusses with Anne Crane of Antiques Trade Gazette how his interest in the field started, his views on collecting and the tribal market.

Stamp specialists Stanley Gibbons and coin specialists AH Baldwin and Sons are both exhibiting at this year’s ‘Masterpiece London’ fair for the first time.

A new twist has emerged in the long-running story of the ‘six sixes’ cricket ball.

The third annual ‘Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Symposium’ will be held in New York on June 4-6.

The work of designer and architect William Arthur Smith Benson (1854-1924) entered a new price arena when this silvered brass ceiling light sold for £23,000 at Mallams Oxford.

Sotheby’s will hold a sale of the Bernheimer family collection in November and Konrad Bernheimer has announced the family’s Munich art dealership will move from its traditional Old Master specialism to concentrate on Modern and Contemporary art under the direction of his daughters.

The highlight of the latest Woolley & Wallis sale of Asian art held in Salisbury was this 4in (10cm) Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period doucai lingzhi bowl.

More than 60 artefacts stolen from English and Welsh country churches over the past few years have been recovered by police after they were alerted by a collector.

Sotheby’s latest set of results give the first indication of how Tad Smith will direct the company.

Eight men have been charged in connection with the Hatton Garden heist following 12 coordinated raids across London and Kent by officers from Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad.

This interior scene by Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) set an artist’s record when it was knocked down at £1.7m at Sotheby’s in London.

From 2016, the ‘Works on Paper Fair’ will move venue from the Science Museum to the nearby Royal Geographical Society, also in Exhibition Road, South Kensington.

This print ‘Unhappy Courtship’ by Dame Paula Rego (b.1935) is estimated at £2000-3000 at a charity sale being conducted by Roseberys.

For a huge model of what was once the world’s largest ship, a whopping price is a suitable result at auction.

Attracting collectors and experts from around the world, the third edition of ‘Asia Week Hong Kong’ will take place from May 27 to June 11.

The latest Modern and Contemporary art auctions in New York took the market to new heights with $2.73bn (£1.84bn) changing hands over two weeks of flagship sales.

Sir John Soane’s private apartments will be unveiled this week as the second stage of the refurbishment of the museum in his former home is completed.

This exceptionally rare Sancai ‘phoenix-head’ ewer from the early Tang dynasty was among the highlights of the week-long Asian art series of sales held in London.