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Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Matthew Adams is moving into bling – well, vintage and antique jewellery from the Georgian period onwards.

“Full steam ahead” is the battle cry of Marcus Budgen, the soon-to-be head of the medals department at Spink. He is due to replace David Erskine-Hill who is leaving that role following an ‘offer he can’t refuse’ – to be the curator of the best collection of Victoria Crosses in the world.

MADAM – John Lewis’ letter (ATG No 2341) in which the chairman of the Public Monuments & Sculpture Association reveals he is seeking counsel’s opinion, in respect of a legal challenge to the proposed ivory trade ban, raises three key questions:

This c.1680 pink painted century Swedish table was among the sales at the recent Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair.

This pair of ormolu candlesticks by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) will feature in the May 24 auction at Duran Subastas in Madrid.

What is your bidding technique? This Bateman cartoon on offer at John Nicholson’s on May 23 should strike a chord with ATG readers who remember the days before bidding paddles.

Trade bodies whose members will be affected by the government’s plan for a near-total UK ban on the sale of ivory are seeking legal advice on challenging the proposals before they become law.

The British Hallmarking Council (BHC) has decided that hallmarks struck offshore by UK assay offices should be different to those applied in the UK.

The Colt Clavier collection of historical keyboard instruments will be offered on June 7 in a sale held by Canterbury Auction Galleries in association with London specialist Piano Auctions.

Topping Mitchells’ (20% buyer’s premium) £53,000 Country Sporting sale in Cockermouth was an artist’s box belonging to George Lodge (1860-1954).

Old Masters and post-Impressionist paintings, vintage luggage and the almost inevitable Asian artefacts all appeared among the best-sellers in the recent round of auctions held across Germany and Switzerland.

Main stage at the design auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on May 30 is taken by jewellery designed by Josef Hoffmann, one of the leading lights of the Wiener Werkstätte.

I was consulted by an art dealer who bought a painting at auction which turned out to belong to someone other than the vendor. The painting went back to the true owner, the consignor to the auction was not worth suing, but did we have a case against the auctioneer?

MADAM – Michael Baggott’s recent letter about the potential adverse impact of the ivory sales ban on the display of ivory pieces by museums is, with respect, misguided.

Three modestly valued works at regional sales.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Marc Murray of Sylvia Powell Decorative Arts is standing at The Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair from May 11-13. The dealership was established in the 1980s and specialises in art pottery by artists such as Jean Cocteau, Picasso and William De Morgan.

Axel Plambeck (b.1936) was CEO of a re-insurance company and in his spare time he collected vintage luggage and picnic sets.

Taken in June 1905 on the River Helmsdale in Sutherland, the very northern and wildest tip of Scotland, is this image, below, of two men fishing.