UK

Whatever chaos faces hundreds of thousands of commuters on the railways as we enter the New Year, the better-ordered world of model trains steams on to continued success.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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?

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.

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

The annual London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair (LARTA) returns to Battersea for the second time to run in conjunction with the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair from January 23-28. Taking place on the mezzanine of Battersea Evolution, the fair focuses on carpets, rugs and woven design.

Roy Bolton is cofounder of Sphinx Fine Art, an Old Master and Russian pictures specialist on Kensington Church Street in London.

This is Liza Minelli as you might never have seen her – in this Polish poster by Wiktor Górka for the film Kabaret, which was created in 1973 for the first year of the film’s release in Poland.

Second World War technology starred at Tennants’ (20% buyer’s premium) militaria sale at Leyburn.

Illustrated here are two of the 20 hand-coloured litho plates, many showing the Crystal Palace in the background and each with a rhyming couplet below, that make up Blondin’s Marvellous Feats.

A restored wall mask made by and indeed featuring the famed Art Deco ceramics designer Susie Cooper is one of the intriguing pieces for sale at Style 1900’s '20th Century Decorative Arts Fair'.