Price databases: Price databases compared

detail of: Quentin Massys, The Moneylender and His Wife,
1514. Oil on panel (70.5 x 67 cm). Musée du Louvre, Paris:
acquisition number INV 1444 ; MR 821.  Source: Wikimedia.

Artprice is particularly useful for tracking trends in the market geographically and for specific artists. Coverage from 1983.

artnet is useful for finding out estimates and realised prices for specific lots, or filling in blanks in your knowledge of specific lots or sales. Coverage from 1985. It has much better coverage of decorative arts and design than Artprice.

Invaluable specialises in sales information for decorative art objects.

For auction houses' own online records, see:

• Bonhams
• China Guardian
• Christie's
• Phillips
• Poly
• Sotheby's

For details of more UK auctioneers, see the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers.