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Buyers of art and antiques are spoilt for choice in London. It’s a city with long-standing streets of antiques dealers and a plethora of fairs and markets, despite the challenges posed by rising rents and rates. Most are complementary rather than in competition with each other. Roland Arkell and Kate Quill report

The London Silver Vaults unites dozens of independent firms – many long-standing family businesses – with a shared passion for the gleam of polished white metal. In this advertising feature, we meet some of the faces behind those iron doors.

ATG's selection of furniture offered in London this summer.

ATG's selection of fine art offered in London this summer.

ATG's selection of ceramics offered in London this summer.

What does the art and antiques season of London Summer mean to you?

Chippendale’s move to a modest Kensington terrace house in 1776 probably marked his partial retirement from business at the age of 58. He would remarry the following year but died in 1779 leaving under £29 (not much more than the cost of one of the Dundas giltwood armchairs which sold at £20 each).

Masterpiece chairman Philip Hewat-Jaboor tells ATG how vital London is to the cross-collecting fair’s future

As a name synonymous with English furniture turns 300 years old this year, dealers are hoping the Chippendale 300 initiative can raise the profile of good English period furniture and inject some fresh pride in an historical craft.

Much of Thomas Chippendale’s renown is thanks to his forward-thinking approach to business in the first decades of consumerism – and in particular the creation of a pioneering catalogue of furniture designs in the style of the great architectural books of the period.

When Olympia opens its doors on June 20, visitors coming through the venue’s entrance on Olympia Way will immediately notice something different going on this year.

Dealers are heading to the capital from far and wide for the 2018 summer art and antiques season.

The London auction community is gearing up for the summer season – and this year there is plenty of action beyond the big four.

ATG's selection of jewellery and silver offered in London this summer.

Rising costs in the wake of the government ban on credit card fees are forcing auctioneers to end card transactions or consider raising buyer’s premium.

IACF is to take over the running of the antiques and collectors’ fairs held in Bingley Hall at the Staffordshire County Showground.

Leading names in British art dealing are returning to the British Art Fair, prompting a rise in exhibitor numbers for the next revamped event.

Catalogued simply as ‘a pair of English soft-paste porcelain models of parrots’, these rare 18th century figures by Bow sold at Thomas Watson in Darlington, County Durham, for £16,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) on May 15.

Lord John Kerr, one of the true doyens of the antiquarian book world, died peacefully at his home in Oxfordshire aged 90 on May 3.

Brian Page passed away on Monday, May 14, after a short illness.