It’s worth doing your homework whether you are preparing to sell at auction or buy. One of the most important reasons is provenance. This is the history of ownership of an item. The more significant it is, the better, and if you can trace it back through solid...

Watching the Antiques Roadshow recently, I was reminded of the most important question a professional should ask when valuing something: why are you having it valued? This is because valuations will differ depending on the answer. This might sound a little odd, but...

The system of British hallmarks dates back a few centuries, but the concept of hallmarking dates back thousands of years, to the time when coins first emerged as currency. Individually stamped by local officials, those early coins would have been made of electrum (a...

This time of year is what the media call the Silly Season, traditionally a period when news is thin on the ground and reporters will file copy on bizarre tales that wouldn’t normally make it into print. They do this because many newspapers and news websites are...

I have just completed a Q&A for a trade magazine, and it made me think, once again, of how the public view not just auctions but the wider art and antiques trade. While there are still a few people running cobweb-ridden, cluttered shops in country backwaters,...

June is the highlight of the year for the British art market, with dealers and collectors flying in from all over the world to take part in art and antiques fairs and auctions, and innumerable gallery shows also open. While all this activity is largely based in...