News

April 12 marks the 42nd anniversary of man’s first space flight by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, and Swann Galleries of New York have chosen that date to launch their first space exploration sale.

The market for early dated Delftware showed its claws at the Shrewsbury salerooms of Halls on March 7, where this 5in (13cm) tall tin-glazed earthenware cat jug from 1677 was auctioned with expectations of £20,000-25,000. Spotted by auctioneer Jeremy Lamond hiding behind a much-admired Royal Crown Derby saucer (worth £20-30) on the mantelpiece of a Warwickshire home, the chipped and fritted feline was added to a select group of a dozen jugs, nine of which are dated.

An advertisement in the Antiques Trade Gazette has brought to light a remarkable coincidence – that the two paintings illustrated here, clearly depicting the same subject, are both to be auctioned on the same day by two different auctioneers at opposite ends of the country.

Christie’s and Sotheby’s have each agreed to pay $20m (£13m) to clients who bought and sold antiques at auctions held outside America.

THIS may not be an obvious time for expansion but for Isle of Wight-based Kendall’s Fine Art business has never been better, and to prove it they are opening two mainland outlets this year.

CONSIDERING the pervading gloom and doom, exhibitors at the private view of TEFAF Maastricht last Thursday night were surprisingly optimistic and the overall mood at the packed party was distinctly upbeat.

FROM April 10 to 13 the Glasgow Art Fair, the largest contemporary art fair outside London, will run for its eighth year in its pavilions in George Square in the heart of the city.