News

Only the idealists of the Arts and Crafts movement could transform a humble display of wares into a decorative work of art, and the small manufacturing firm of Jesson Birkett and Co. had done just that with this sample board, right, offered at Bonhams’ Oxford sale on 17 September.

After some research Guy Schwinge of Duke’s in Dorchester discovered this rare English porcelain mug to be an early piece of Worcester and not Bow as originally catalogued.

Benefiting from the long summer gap but seeing the best-and-rest polarisation that affects most categories of the art market these days, there were mixed results for Christie’s South Kensington’s 299-lot sale of Selected Silver on September 10.

THE Coppa Italia is the Italian equivalent of the English FA cup. When the example shown right was won by Torino in 1943 it was the second occasion on which they had taken home the trophy.

FRENCH auction laws may have been reformed, but monopolies still exist, as Christie’s have just found to their cost.

THE merger of Italy’s two leading domestic auction houses, Semenzato and Finarte, has won the support of shareholders, who voted on September 4.

PAYPAL, the leading online payment service, are facing a new challenge that could scupper eBay’s attempt to take them over.