Treasure Trove Valued at £3.3 million

A panel of experts have decided the value of the unprecedented Anglo-Saxon hoard hidden for 1,300 years is £3.3million. It will be sold to a museum (most probably in Staffordshire once they raise the funds) and split between the farmer and the finder.

Guardian article here.

Do the interactive tour of the hoard here.

Last Antique Auctions of The Year

The big auction houses are having their last antique auctions of the year over the next few weeks. Make sure you get in for those unique christmas gifts. All the catalogues are available online now.

(Image: Cordy's Sale lot number 572A. 19thC painted portrait miniature of a gentleman in formal dress, signed and dated, in old brass mount with suspension ring. H:80mm Estimate: $250 )

Nov 30th - Watson's, Christchurch 'Antiques, Decorative Arts & Fine Jewellery'

Dec 3rd - Webb's, Auckland 'Modern & Traditional Design'

Dec 8th - Cordy's, Auckland 'Christmas Antique Auction'

Dec 9th - Art & Object, Auckland 'Objects of Desire' (catalogue out later today)

First Edition Darwin Sells For £100,000

One of the 1250 first editions of "On the Origin of the Species" sold at Christie's for above the £60,000 estimate. The last first edition sold in April for £35,000. BBC article here. It's been a pretty good Darwin year.

Georgian London

This week's My Space in the Observer is the dining room of Dan Cruickshank the historian. He owns a Georgian house in Spitalfields.

Santa's Make Over Revealed

The Farmer's Santa has been made over, gone is his winky eye and beckoning finger. He looks happier and is now accompanied by some new reindeer, as he used to have. NZ Herald article here.

Yves Saint Laurent Sale Achieves 8 million Euro

The second part of the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge Sale held last week did better than expected. Achieving twice the 4 million Euro estimated and with a 98% clearance rate. Read report from ArtDaily.org here.

(Image: by Marianne Haas. A guest room at Chateau Gabriel, once the home of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.)

Lincoln Letter For Sale at $60,000

A letter written in 1861 to prove a child's meeting with Abraham Lincoln is thought to fetch US$60,000 by Philadelphia's Raab Collection. Guardian article here.