The easel in the crown

Rufus Bird detects a return to buying art for pleasure

The Story of Tudor Art: A History of Tudor ...

A brass-inlaid rosewood table, three of four Seasons bursting with colour and a rare pair of powder-blue vases should draw every eye at the forthcoming Decorative Art Fair in London

A new exhibition explores the enduring artistry of ancient Egypt

Edward VII swept away the cobwebs of mid-Victorian style, Queen Mary had passion for all things small and the Queen Mother bought rather avant-garde art. In a forthcoming talk, Tim Knox, director of the Royal Collection, charts a century of regal taste

Whether it is adding contemporary paintings to a gallery of Old Masters or branching out into territories as diverse as Modernist chairs, Iranian tiles or Churchill memorabilia, the passion for collecting seems to run in some families, as Eleanor Doughty discovers