UK

BADA Ltd, the organiser of The Open Art Fair, has lost an appeal against a small claims court ruling that said two dealers need pay only part of their stand fee as the event was cut short.

The UK government is proposing a fee structure to cover the costs of processing antiques that qualify as exemptions under the 2018 Ivory Act.

The highlight of a £75,000, 30-lot private collection of Robert Thompson oak carvings sold by Tennants was an anthropomorphic figure of The Mouseman of Kilburn.

A late work by LS Lowry (1887-1976), which had never appeared on the open market before, overshot a £60,000- 90,000 estimate at Tennants’ latest Modern & Contemporary art sale.

This Georgian grant of arms document on vellum was presented to the celebrated Scottish physician Gilbert Blane (1749-1834) after his creation as a baronet by The Prince Regent in 1812.

This George III silver table snuff box by Phipps and Robinson, London 1814, is engraved to the cover with a plan of the battle of Talavera in the Peninsular War.

Spotlight on two London art businesses launched despite the challenges of lockdown

MADAM – Further to the fraught issue of a possible merger between BADA and LAPADA.

This late Victorian carved lime and soft wood panel is by James Peake (c.1839-1918), a carver and gilder.

Entered from the estate of an Ipswich craftsman-hobbyist, the corpulent figures shown below were two of his 144 wood carvings which met unexpected demand.

A number of key sales for dealers and collectors of antique silver were postponed earlier this year. However, plenty is on offer this month and with lockdown in England set to recede, April features a bumper crop

The sale at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in Wisborough Green, West Sussex, on March 8-11 included an example of Alexander Crichton’s famous walrus silver and glass claret jug.

This 22-carat gold and enamel egg was the largest of a baker’s dozen made by Garrard in 1983 for a treasure hunt organised by Cadbury’s.

The city of Liverpool holds a special place in the oeuvre of John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-93).

A recent sale at Dawsons’ (23% buyer’s premium) sale in Maidenhead included two George IV tablewares by Edward Farrell chased and embossed with tavern scenes in the manner of Dutch genre painting.

A late 19th century christening bowl offered by Hampshire auction house Hannam’s (23% buyer’s premium) was admired both for its artistry and ownership history.

Drawings by the great fell-walking guidebook author catch the mood of escapism

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book sales.

Bolstered by a strong melt price of over £15 an ounce, domestic silver hollowwares and flatwares are selling strongly. However, it is the pieces of collectable value – novelties, provincial rarities and the work of the best Georgian, Regency and Victorian smiths – that continue to perform best in the market