UK

The biggest literary impression in a recent Shrewsbury sale that combined medals and militaria with well over 200 lots of books and ephemera was made by poets – famous and otherwise.

The Northern Antiques Fair, run in association with the British Antiques Dealers’ Association (BADA), takes place during Frieze Week, meaning buyers can snap up top objects in North Yorkshire as well as London in early autumn.

BADA sent ATG this statement last week providing further details on the sale of a majority stake in its fair

Our regular listing of British and Irish book auctions.

MADAM – Amid the BADA voices calling for an EGM (ATG No 2409), let me add that one thing is certain: the days of traditional art and antiques fairs are numbered, thanks to changing tastes and an ageing buyer audience.

This rare oak Slazenger tennis racket press featured in the Vintage & Antique toy sale at Mitchells (20% buyer’s premimum) of Cockermouth on July 20.

Daniel Mendoza is considered one of the first ‘modern’ boxers – one who helped elevate boxing to a sport rather than just two blokes beating each other up.

Proceeds of painting by artist-plantsman Cedric Morris will benefit Benton End – the house where it was painted and home of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing

Rare book dealer brings early 16th century Sammelband to eighth edition of Frieze Masters.

MADAM – The decision by BADA’s council to sell a majority stake in the fair was based on reliable information that the event faced making significant losses in the coming years. When we were approached by Thomas Woodham-Smith and Harry Van der Hoorn with an offer to invest in the fair, we had the opportunity to say ‘no’.

Dealer Manfred Schotten “grew up skiing in Bavaria, started to play golf, was taken fly-fishing by friends and started noticing sporting antiques and memorabilia. This is when it really started.”

From a 5000-year-old pictographic tablet to a 5th century bible leaf - a small but fascinating London auction.

MADAM – There are positives about BADA’s decision to sell a majority stake in our annual fair. Not least of these is that the event needs fresh innovation. As an exhibitor for nearly 20 years, I felt it was getting tired and stale. It was time to look at things in a new and open way.

Shropshire auction house Trevanion & Dean has taken on four new members of staff as joint founder Aaron Dean has chosen to leave and Christina Trevanion has taken on sole ownership of the firm.

Christopher Jones specialises in 18th, 19th and 20th century decorative antiques, furniture, lighting and porcelain. He next stands at the Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in Battersea from October 1-6.

MADAM – The decision to sell the BADA fair to proven art and antiques fair organisers is an excellent move.

The first Olympic gold medal won by a British woman in an individual swimming event has been bought by her home town for public display.

The prolific artist Percy Kelly (1918-93) was averse to the limelight and only a few of his paintings were shown publicly during his life. But a major retrospective at the Tullie House gallery Carlisle in 2015 and a birth centenary last year has helped raise the Cumbrian artist’s profile.

Inspired by LS Lowry, the self-taught Mancunian artist Fred Yates (1922-2008) set out to paint pictures about the lives of ordinary people. These canvases – ranging from the industrial architecture and street life of Manchester to the sunnier scenes he painted after his move to Cornwall in 1969 – attract a loyal following on the secondary market.

Close to 2000 dealers are booked for the Peterborough Festival of Antiques on Friday and Saturday, September 27-28.