Sale by Description CASES

August 28, 2025

National Case Law Archive

Lady justice with law books

Harlingdon and Leinster Enterprises Ltd v Christopher Hull Fine Art Ltd [1989] EWCA Civ 4 (15 December 1989)

An art dealer bought a painting described as being by Gabriele Münter but later found it to be a forgery. The court held it was not a sale by description as the buyer, being experts, relied on their own assessment, not the seller's description. Facts The plaintiffs, Harlingdon and Leinster Enterprises Ltd, were art dealers specialising in German Expressionist paintings. The defendants, Christopher Hull Fine Art Ltd, were also art dealers but not experts in this specific area. The defendants offered for sale two paintings described in a catalogue as being by the German Expressionist artist, Gabriele Münter, for £6,000

August 28, 2025

National Case Law Archive

Lady justice next to law books

Ronaasen & Son v Arcos Ltd [1933] UKHL 1 (02 February 1933)

Facts The appellants, Arcos, Limited (‘the sellers’), entered into a contract to sell a quantity of Russian redwood and whitewood staves to the respondents, W. N. Ronaasen & Son (‘the buyers’), for the purpose of making cement barrels. The contract specified, amongst other dimensions, that the staves were to be of “1/2 an inch” thickness. Upon delivery, the buyers measured the staves and discovered that while they corresponded with the contract in other respects, a significant proportion did not conform to the specified thickness. Only around 5% of the staves were precisely 1/2 inch thick; the vast majority (over 80%)