Obituaries

The world of Islamic art has lost one of its most beloved sons with the passing of Bashir Mohamed, a true visionary in his field who possessed the intuitive spirit of a hunter and the soul of a historian.

Gordon’s working life began as an English and drama teacher but his love of antiques led him to begin dealing from stalls at Bermondsey and Portobello Road Markets in the 1960s, fitting his antique life around his teaching job while raising a young family.

Shortly after Christmas I received a telephone call from Mary Lumb to tell me of the sad passing of her husband Tony. A few days previously he had felt slightly unwell, gone to lie down and had passed away. A very peaceful ending to a long and happy life.

Much-loved West Yorkshire antiques dealer Roger Smith passed away at Airedale hospital on Friday, January 16, after a short illness. He was 79.

Geoffrey ‘Geoff’ Whitaker, entrepreneur, antiques dealer and founder of the International Antiques & Collectors Fairs (IACF), died over Christmas aged 82, after a period of illness.

Pier Giorgio Gracis 1931-2025, affectionately known simply as Giorgio, was among the very last of a generation of antique dealers that frequented the London auction houses and dealers’ shops during the latter half of the 20th century.

Antony Newman, universally known as Tony, was at the epicentre of what is now affectionately described as a golden age for the antiques trade throughout the 1990s.

Chairman of IACF Keith Harris, a highly respected figure, a lifelong entrepreneur, and well-known in the antiques trade, has passed away.

It is with great sorrow and deep sadness that we announce that the wonderful, formidable, generous and elegant lady, Caroline Wallrock (née Russett), passed away on November 18 after bravely battling cancer.

New York dealer Howard L Rehs, president of Rehs Galleries Inc and a respected authority on 19th and early 20th century French academic art, died on November 19 at the age of 66 following a year-long battle with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease.

Re: Obituary for James Brett and following tribute letters (ATGs 2716 & 2717).

David Ker, who has died aged 74, was an important and pioneering art dealer and larger-than-life figure, described as one of the most vivid upper-class characters of the last half century.

Derek Newman, who died in September this year, was a dealer in English watercolours from Gloucestershire, at first in partnership with his mother Heather and then alone after her death in 2004.

Re: the obituary for James Brett in ATG No 2716.

James Brett was an antiques dealer of international repute specialising in the finest English and European antique furniture, sculpture and metal work.

One day in early 1975 a dealer from Norwich came into my shop in Harrogate for the first time and, although he did not buy on that occasion, that introduction would lead to a 50-year friendship that has been ended by the death of James Brett from Alzheimer’s Disease.

It’s no exaggeration to describe James as a legend of the antiques trade.

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of William "Bill" Buckley, a respected antiques dealer who built his reputation on integrity and an eye for quality furniture.