News

A LEADING fine art insurer has alerted UK auctioneers that they may be breaking the law in the way they provide insurance cover for items consigned for auction.

MEMENTOS of the notorious Kray Twins amassed while they served life sentences in Parkhurst and Broadmoor were offered in some 160 lots at Chiswick Auctions on the evening of January 26.

DEALERS at Antiquarius say they are “devastated” after learning that they could be evicted within the next few months. It emerged last week that the landlords of the West London antiques centre have signed an agreement which will see the premises on the King’s Road, Chelsea become an American fashion chain store as early as this summer.

Fittingly for a man whose career started in the 1930s, last week's sale of the Roger Warner collection at Christie's South Kensington was just like old times.

Inertia again characterised the Antiques Collectors' Club's annual Antique Furniture Index (AFI) in 2008. But in a year when so many economic investments ended up performing poorly, a negligible fall of one per cent was far from devastating.

A major new conference for antiques and fine art auctioneers will take place at the Hilton Hotel, Birmingham, NEC on Friday, April 24.

Readers are being urged to be aware of a new batch of counterfeit Troika wares that are being offered for sale on eBay.