News

Spink will hold their first ever sale in Paris on November 17 when they offer the La Fayette collection of stamps. Following a seven-month acceptance process, Spink have now joined the select band of outside auctioneers licensed to sell in the French capital.

ONE of the oldest provincial vetted fairs, the annual Surrey Antiques Fair, moves for its 37th staging next year to Farnham Castle. It has always been held at Guildford Civic Hall, which is due to close for redevelopment, and while the closure has been on the cards for some years, it was finalised earlier this year. The last Surrey fair in Guildford is held this week from October 2 to 5.

Asian Art in London and AXA Art Insurance have announced the shortlist of the two categories of the AXA Art Award for Asian Art in London. The judges were Dr Oliver Impey, Senior Assistant Keeper of the Department of Eastern Art at the Ashmolean Museum; John Ayres, Keeper of the Far Eastern Department at the V&A until 1982, freelance journalist Susan Moore and Country Life Salerooms Correspondent Huon Mallalieu.

It has only been a matter of weeks since the Antiques Trade Gazette’s last warning concerning scam letters targeting small businesses over the Data Protection Act. Despite the alert, however, dealers continue to be at risk and the complaints we have received about one firm in particular have, if anything, increased.

Sotheby’s will sell the contents of Fawley House, Fawley, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on October 14-15. Their vendor, David McAlpine of the construction dynasty, has collected for 30 years.

USA: The reputation of Portsmouth-based Northeast Auctions (15% buyer’s premium) has predominantly been built on selling Americana, but this New Hampshire auction house hope to target greater numbers of UK and European collectors and dealers by including more European material in their five major annual sales.

ARGUABLY the most apt backdrop for an art fair anywhere in the world is the Renaissance city of Florence, and the city can be seen at its best at this time of year when, from September 26 to October 5, the 23rd Florence Biennale takes place at the Palazzo Corsini on the Arno.