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Latest art and antiques news from Antiques Trade Gazette. Browse by topics such as art finance, auctions, insurance and recruitment.

Clock strikes note of quality

09 March 2004

AT 1620 lots, the January 27-28 sale held by Keys (10% buyer’s premium) at Aylsham, was a little smaller than many of the Norfolk rooms’ mammoth events but it followed a familiar pattern. Speedy selling of two- and three-figure pieces was supported by a handful of better offerings selling into four figures.

Trade spot underrated coffer

09 March 2004

DEALERS are always looking out for a seriously undercatalogued lot and at Amersham Auction Rooms (15% buyer’s premium) on February 5 they found one.

Kangxi brushpot to Chinese taste

09 March 2004

This Kangxi period (1662-1722) blue and white porcelain brushwasher was a cut above other entries in Stride & Son’s (15% buyer’s premium) 1007-lot Chichester outing.

East 57th Street, the road to enlightenment

09 March 2004

AFTER opening his gallery in the autumn of 2002 in the Fuller Building, 41 East 57th Street – a hive of Asian activity in New York at this time of year – Carlton Rochell enjoyed a major success last March with his inaugural exhibition of works from the Wesley and Carolyn Halpert Collection.

Bonhams get middle market mix right

09 March 2004

WITH thousands of middle-class homes being turned into white boxes every week, how on earth can English auctioneers sustain the market for middle-of-the-road Victorian pictures?

Evidence that the Irish market remains firm

09 March 2004

This pair of early 19th century mahogany and brass-bound peat buckets soared to £68,000 plus 19.5% premium – six times their estimate – at Bonhams’ March 2 fine English and Continental furniture sale in Bond Street.

Titanic: the Channel Crossing

09 March 2004

IN April 1912, Miss Lenox-Conyngham was travelling with three relatives from Southampton to Cherbourg, but though this was just a short channel crossing, she decided that it was worthwhile dashing off a letter to a nephew on the ship’s notepaper.

Continental touch helps bureaux sell

09 March 2004

ALONG with most examples of standard furniture, 18th and 19th century bureaux are not bringing the prices they were a couple of years back and vendors are having to adjust expectations in order to find buyers. Nevertheless, more unusual examples, or those with an extra degree of quality, still meet enthusiastic reactions and it was interesting to see two 18th century Continental walnut bureaux among the higher sellers at Lawrences' (12.5% buyer's premium) February 3-5 sale.

Tax rebate offer over class action compensation

09 March 2004

TAXES lost to the US government during the American side of the Sotheby’s/Christie’s price-fixing settlement can be retrieved by the British trade say the US company trading in auction house class action certificates.

From Britains to Bond, selling toys at the treble

09 March 2004

THERE was plenty to tempt toy collectors in the provinces in late January and early February with over 1000 wide-ranging lots catering to all tastes and offered in three different sales.

Royal Worcester Potpourri Vase

02 March 2004

Highlight of the sale conducted by Andrew Grant at the Bank House Golf and Country Club at Bransford, Worcester on February 19 were two Royal Worcester potpourri vases decorated by John Stinton. Both carried fine renditions of the artist’s trademark Highland cattle in moorland, including this example standing 12in (30cm) high with twin leaf-form handles and piercing and ribbon swags to the neck.

The lions serve up the pride of their collection

02 March 2004

Bonhams are consolidating their reputation for high-profile and prestigious single-owner ceramics collections with another big name to add to the recent roll-call. After Bernard Watney, Norman Stretton, Billie Paine et al come Jeanne and Milton Zorensky, the first part of whose mammoth collection of First Period Worcester is to be offered for sale in Bonhams’ Bond Street rooms this month.

Has the revival started?

02 March 2004

Furniture activity in London has been fairly low-key so far this year, but two mid-February furniture sales not only looked a step above the rest but were also fairly similar in their scope. Christie’s South Kensington’s (19.5/10% buyer’s premium) 502-lot sale on February 11 was one of their five annual sales of more select, varied and decorative content.

Overpayment fraud is latest online scam

01 March 2004

The antiques trade are being alerted to a new online fraud after at least three dealers were targeted last week. Overpayment fraud, as it is known, is the latest in a series of Internet-based payment frauds aimed at retailers with a website presence.

Christie’s to hold sales again in Spain

01 March 2004

Christie’s are to hold their first auction in Spain since 1999 this autumn when they offer a sale devoted to Spanish paintings in Madrid on October 6. Although they have maintained an office in Madrid, Christie’s last Spanish auction was five years ago when they held the Bendinat House sale in Mallorca.

LAPADA’s latest survey brings little comfort

01 March 2004

More than half of those of who responded to the latest LAPADA survey have reported a decrease in turnover in 2003. The annual survey sent out in December by the UK’s largest antiques dealer’s association, was this year completed by 158 members – 25 per cent of the association’s membership. Last year, it was 151 members, or 22 per cent, which indicates that the association has lost a net of 54 members – eight per cent – over the past year.

17th century formulae for success

27 February 2004

KENSINGTON ceramics dealer Garry Atkins holds his traditional annual exhibition of English pottery at his gallery at 107 Kensington Church Street, London W8 from March 9 to 20. There are 47 specially chosen items in the catalogue, which is free to those who attend the show or £8 by post.

Bobbing up in Cork, the first view of the first yacht club

26 February 2004

There was high excitement at the Cork rooms of Joseph Woodward & Sons (15% buyer’s premium) on February 11 when what was thought to be the earliest surviving painted view of Cork harbour fetched what is known to be the highest auction price ever paid for a painting in the city.

Saved from the deluge, a £66,000 expanding table

26 February 2004

Proving once again that radially-expanding tables are among the most practical and the most coveted pieces of Victorian furniture, the Hereford Rowing Club received an unexpected cash windfall when their often misused clubroom table sold at Brightwells in early February.

Majolica sardine dish serves up a £2900 treat

26 February 2004

Countless numbers of sardine dishes were turned out by the 100 or so potteries who made majolica wares in the final third of the 19th century but for some collectors the mission is to find an example of each.

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