UK

Sotheby’s is to test the temperature of the market for Japanese art with its first dedicated sale in London for more than a decade.

MADAM – Your news story (‘Ivory removed from Chippendale before sale’, ATG No 2356) draws attention to the deliberate and unforgivable removal of original ivory elements from an important commode by Thomas Chippendale, England’s most famous cabinet maker.

Gary Arkell of Loddon Auctions was ready to toast a record-breaking success when lot 718 in the Berkshire saleroom’s latest auction sold for what is believed to be a record price for a beer label of £1500.

Derbyshire’s Hansons Auctioneers is opening a second London location.

London coin dealership Sovereign Rarities will conduct its first auction on September 25.

BADA and LAPADA have alerted their members that any business with an annual taxable turnover more than the VAT registration threshold (currently £85,000) should keep digital records.

Mullany Haute Epoque Fine Art opens the doors to its new gallery on Bury Street, St James’s, this autumn, taking the premises formerly occupied by a silver dealership.

It’s always good to hear about the opening of a new antiques centre. Essex businessman Ken Hewitt has seized an opportunity to launch his venture in the medieval town of Manningtree, described by the local tourist association as “a gateway to Constable country”.

Gardiner Houlgate in Wiltshire is dubbing its upcoming sale “the UK’s largest-ever auction of guitars”.

Complete with 48 cards and rules sheet, and still in its original, if slightly fragile case with printed label, Panko, or Votes for Women… is a sort of ‘Rummy’- inspired card game pitching Suffragists against Anti-Suffragists.

Our story last week revealed that ivory elements of an important piece of Chippendale furniture, the Rowland Winn commode made c.1766, were removed for its appearance at a Christie’s auction earlier this year, the commode having been imported from the US.

Jewellery is the single biggest element of the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair (September 13-19), with 13 specialist dealers and a handful of others who will include items of personal adornment alongside decorative arts or antiquities.

His daring organic sculptural designs re-energised the British jewellery scene in post-war Britain. Now Andrew Grima’s (1921-2007) creations are leading the revival of 1960s and ‘70s designer jewellery on the secondary market.

A little-known Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) sculpture of the British actress Sandra Dorne took an estimate-topping £11,000 at HRD Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium) on the Isle of Wight.

This agate, enamel and gemset cameo brooch carved with the profile of a classical maiden is signed verso for Georges Bissinger.