UK

FOR two generations, Wilsons Antiques have been a feature of the West Sussex town of Worthing and annually raise their profile with selling exhibitions, often with a dash of local interest.

The 1440 lots of 20th century decorative arts offered on the first day of the September 3,4 sale at the Bristol Auction Rooms (buyer’s premium 12.77%) included a range of ceramics, plus a dozen items of metalware and furniture, but the lot that really made the decorator trade sit up was this 4ft 1in (1.25m) terracotta creation, right, by Goldscheider.

LAPADA are to launch an innovative scheme to attract new collectors at their Fine Art and Antiques Fair at the Commonwealth Institute, in London from October 9 to 13.

This impressive equine statuette, right, proved to be the high point of Bonhams’ September 18 sale of British ceramics and glass at Bond Street. The 163/4in (42.5cm) high model decorated in cream and black is set on a rectangular plinth sponged and painted in green, blue and pink.

Only the idealists of the Arts and Crafts movement could transform a humble display of wares into a decorative work of art, and the small manufacturing firm of Jesson Birkett and Co. had done just that with this sample board, right, offered at Bonhams’ Oxford sale on 17 September.

After some research Guy Schwinge of Duke’s in Dorchester discovered this rare English porcelain mug to be an early piece of Worcester and not Bow as originally catalogued.

Benefiting from the long summer gap but seeing the best-and-rest polarisation that affects most categories of the art market these days, there were mixed results for Christie’s South Kensington’s 299-lot sale of Selected Silver on September 10.

THE Coppa Italia is the Italian equivalent of the English FA cup. When the example shown right was won by Torino in 1943 it was the second occasion on which they had taken home the trophy.

THE sales figures from Duke’s sale August 15 & 16 (buyer's premium: 15 per cent) would look good at any time in the year but coming in the high summer for a sale of silver, jewellery and furniture, they were particularly pleasing for auctioneer Matthew Denney.

THE heroic exploits of the first Duke of Wellington in defeating Napoleon at Waterloo must be among the best recorded events in British military history.

The bane of the shop trade and the boon of auctioneers – the Internet has certainly transformed the marketplace and nowhere is this more true than toy sales.

A NEW auction house promising prompt payment to vendors has been launched in the heart of London by a foreign investment group.

THERE was no notable furniture in Mallams 495-lot sale on August 28 (buyer's premium: 15 per cent), but a healthy selling rate for silver and jewellery and some good prices for an assortment of oddities and decorative entries, boosted overall figures.

AFTER a closure of some 18 months to sort out some little problems with the lease, Mayfair's Shapero Gallery, which specialises in antique prints, photographs, maps and watercolours, reopens this week at 24 Bruton Street, W1 with a show called simply Cities.

ONCE almost the hallmarks of those corner junk/antiques shops, wrought-metal stick stands these days have a genuine value – a sort of camp appeal utilised by the decorator trade. Of course, the interest in this example, right, offered at Raymond P. Inman (15% buyer’s premium) at Brighton on September 2 may simply have been a greyhound enthusiast attracted by the dog and racing trophy. Whatever the bidder’s motives, the grey-painted stand sold at £790.

LONG a convert to selling shows, Kent rug dealer Desmond North holds another of his regular marquee sales in the grounds of his home, The Orchard, Hale Street, East Peckham, near Tonbridge, on the weekend of October 5 and 6. But even in specialised worlds the market has to be pursued and Mr North, who says he is baffled by what new homeowners use for decoration and furnishings in their ever-more valuable properties, is aiming at this area.

LONDON antiquarian books saleroom Bloomsbury Book Auctions are to sell a major library with no buyer’s premium – partially as a marketing exercise. Managing director Rupert Powell believes this is the first time since the premium was introduced in the 1970s that a British auction house has waived the levy.

THE word English is arguably superfluous in the title of a selling exhibition entitled The English Drawing Room, which runs from October 1 to 19 at the Mayfair showrooms of Windsor House Antiques.

Quality paintings have been extremely thin on the ground in the provinces in the last few weeks, but this Dorothea Sharp (1874-1955) oil did at least create a stir at the Leominster rooms of Brightwells (15% buyer’s premium) on August 29 when it climbed to £41,000 against an estimate of £3000-5000.

THERE was only one spectacular price but plenty of exceptional results at this vast Essex dispersal at Sworder's, September 10-11 (Buyer's premium: 15 per cent) – a reminder to the trade that quality goods may be hard to find but wider margins can be made from low-value material.