Dealers

One year shy of its 20th anniversary is the 2000-plus stand Peterborough Festival of Antiques held twice a year at the East of England Showground.

A pair of early 17th century gloves slipped into a top spot at the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair last week.

The British Art Fair is an annual feeding ground for collectors of modern and post-war British art. This year’s staging of the 30-year-old event, which runs from September 20-23, marks a new chapter for the fair as it moves to London’s Saatchi Gallery.

A series of woodblock prints by the Japanese artist Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) portrays the 47 ronin, a group of ferociously loyal samurai who famously avenged their master’s death.

Two obituaries from the art and antiques trade.

Racing round the banking at Brooklands in Surrey, Sir Tim Birkin is shown to dramatic effect in this oil painting by Dion Pears, below.

In an increasingly complex marketplace, how should auctioneers and dealers charge for their services?

Romanians, Hungarians, Saxons, Roma and Russians have all historically lived in the area in central Romania known as Transylvania. Each group had its own distinct culture, but after years of living side-by-side these ‘families’ drew inspiration from one another.

Dealer Mel Caswell, based in Bristol, specialises in Japanese art and unusual objects.

British modernist Kenneth Lauder (1916-2004) used to entreat his opticians to create spectacles that would allow him to see the world upside down. They refused, but he remained determined to view life in a different way.

An art dealership that sold a portrait of Napoleon’s brother-in-law to The Frick Collection in New York has strongly criticised Italy’s decision to retrospectively rescind its export licence.

MADAM – Your news story (‘Ivory removed from Chippendale before sale’, ATG No 2356) draws attention to the deliberate and unforgivable removal of original ivory elements from an important commode by Thomas Chippendale, England’s most famous cabinet maker.

BADA and LAPADA have alerted their members that any business with an annual taxable turnover more than the VAT registration threshold (currently £85,000) should keep digital records.

Mullany Haute Epoque Fine Art opens the doors to its new gallery on Bury Street, St James’s, this autumn, taking the premises formerly occupied by a silver dealership.

A late 19th century kingwood and ormolu mounted jardinière, offered for £4995 by Mark Buckley Antiques of Ilkley, is among the pieces on show at Galloway Fairs’ next event at Duncombe Park.

When is the right time to buy a piece of rare antique silver – a George III caviar dish, say?

A prominent figure in the early furniture trade, Peter Bontoft of William H Stokes Antiques, died suddenly of a heart attack, on July 29. He was 73.

Jeremy Astfalck of The Old Corkscrew is a specialist silver dealer with a business encompassing all areas of the 19th and 20th century decorative arts genre. He is among the dealers at this month’s LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair.