A recent feature in Country Life noted the importance of keeping records of purchases at auction, if only to enable future generations to see how much the value of work has appreciated. An excellent example of this was provided by a sale conducted by Sotheby's in November when the company disposed of a collection assembled by Sir Henry Price during the 1930s and 40s. In January 1939 he paid £1,062 for a Queen Anne scarlet and gold lacquered bureau cabinet; two months ago, this fetched £168,500.

Similarly, a small Jacobean portrait of a young woman painted by an unidentified artist was bought by Price around the same time for £500 and in November it made £322,500. Only the knowledge of how much had been paid over half a century ago provided the opportunity to see what had risen in popularity during the intervening period and what remained static. For this reason alone, it is worth making a new year's resolution to preserve documentation relating to all future auction purchases.