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The studio ceramics offered at the Mallams Oxford (20% buyer’s premium) Design, Modern British and Post-War Art sale were the major talking point (see ATG No 2324), but furniture by major late 19th century and early 20th century makers also made an impact.

Brussels gears up for its major art and antiques fair this month with the latest edition of BRAFA.

While BRAFA understandably dominates much of the cultural headlines during this period, it is not the only show in town.

Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R Vance Jr, has formed an Antiquities Trafficking Unit to focus on potentially looted artefacts in New York.

Algernon Newton (1880-1968) is one of those British artists whose pictures went unnoticed for many years.

BRAFA has long been a fair with a speciality in early (medieval and Renaissance) works of art, which is something that dates back to the years when it was a Belgian National fair in the city centre. It thus serves a venerable collecting tradition drawing in buyers from the local area and further afield.

Alan Blakeman, lifelong rock climber and founder of niche business BBR Auctions in Elsecar, near Barnsley, had a good 2017.

Auctioneering is a fiercely competitive business, on the face of it. Behind the scenes, however, there are many examples of salerooms helping each other – from sharing business experiences to providing specialist counsel on objects.

Must-have Christmas presents in the Sixties and Seventies, Sasha dolls have remarkable appeal today.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Tribal art has long been a Belgian speciality due to the country’s colonial history in Africa. So it is not surprising to see this area well represented at BRAFA, with around a dozen participants in this field hailing from Paris, Brussels and as far away as Montreal.

A painting by Rex Whistler (1905-44) which was believed to be the last he painted before he was killed during the Second World War sold at Chiswick Auctions (25/12% buyer’s premium) in London.

Dealers are often on the move. Here, ATG takes another look at some of the dealers that have recently taken up new premises (or are planning to do so) around the UK and beyond. They range from a new London location for a long-standing jewellery firm to Drew Pritchard opening a shop in his local town.

The rising popularity of the tribal art collecting scene is tempting auction houses to take steps in that direction.

MADAM – Re: the British Art Market Federation (BAMF) proposal for exempting ‘museum-quality ivory’ from any ban (ATG No 2324), where does that leave us?

Antiquities is one of BRAFA’s strong suits in terms of exhibitor volume. Around 10 specialists in this field are standing, plus a number of others that mix antiquities with, for example, Asian art.

Work from 1880 returns to where it was made after it was offered at nearby antiques fair...

MADAM – This week I listened in utter disbelief as actress and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna spoke on Radio 4’s Today programme calling for the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow to no longer show any items which contain ivory elements.

MADAM – It is not clear from all the correspondence and articles in ATG as to whether the ivory ban will be limited to elephant and marine ivory and, if so, leaving one free to trade in items made from mammoth, warthog and hippo ivory.

Cyber security is among the biggest concerns for dealers and auctioneers, according to the latest ATG survey.