News

THIS year was the second successful three-day Ceramics Festival held at Stoke-on-Trent in October, which is maybe surprising for a place which owes its very existence to pottery and is regarded by many, most particularly Paul Atterbury, the festival patron, as “the ceramics centre of the Western world”.

A Stradivari violin, which has been played in concert halls all over the world, is being offered for sale by Corsham-based auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate in London on November 6.

An auction of promises will be held at Moreton Hall School on November 10, with the proceeds helping to fund a scholarship in the name of the late Shropshire auctioneer Richard Allen.

A City livery company for art market professionals could be only 10 years away following the official registration of The Guild of Arts Scholars, Dealers and Collectors by the City of London.

The highlight of the two-day sale of clocks and watches conducted by Gardiner Houlgate of Corsham, near Bath on October 19-20 was this rare 17th century coach or clockwatch consigned by a Bristol family who had owned it for at least a century. Measuring 31/2in (9cm) across, it is shown here a little over life-size.

AMERICAN folk art moved into new territory at Sotheby’s New York on October 6 when this life-size Indian chief weathervane with a rich verdigris patina sold for $5.2m/£2.9m (plus 20/12% buyer’s premium).

American auction houses relying on eBay Live Auctions to bolster bidding via the internet, were left frustrated on Saturday, October 21 when a server supporting the live auction portion of the site failed.