UK

Among the eye-catching pieces sold during London Art Week (June 30-July 7) was this reversible games board made in the late 16th or early 17th century in the northern province of Portuguese India, probably Bombay.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is to push ahead with a consultation on the trade in ivory before making any changes to legislation.

Anthony Browne is girding his loins… with facts and figures on the art market.

The UK and European Union now face an uncertain future, with cross-border controls a key concern for exporters and importers as politicians debate memberships of the single market and customs union. What does this mean for the art market and its insurance needs?

An impeccably preserved portrait of Thomas Pope, later 3rd Earl of Downe, by William Larkin (1580-1619), led Bonhams’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) Old Master Paintings sale on July 5.

“There are insurers in the market who purport to be specialists but who have little, if any, experience in settling difficult claims, such as those involving depreciation as a result of damage. Their premiums are very competitive, but brokers have no knowledge of how claims will be settled.

While it is well known that Queen Victoria sent her troops tins of chocolate boxes for Christmas in the second Boer War (1899-1902), the eight scarves she personally crocheted to send to individual soldiers are not so familiar.

All industries need to have the ear of people close to political decision making, particularly now that Brexit has shifted policy makers’ priorities. Here ATG highlights some people in the corridors of power who are key to the art and antiques market.

Sold by RR Auction (25/22.5% buyer’s premium) on June 14 was a financial document of November 1721 bearing the signature of Isaac Newton – an order to pay to a Dr Francis Fauquier the dividend due on his substantial investment in the South Sea Company.

The 'Art & Antiques Fair Olympia', the 45-year-old staple of the London summer calendar, finished its most recent run (June 25-July 1) to subdued reports.

The Charles Dickens Birthday Book, edited by his eldest daughter, Mary, and illustrated by his youngest, Kate, was published in 1882, 12 years after the writer’s death.

A dealer will offer what he believes is a Joseph Wright of Derby self-portrait at the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair this autumn.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Two events organised by Brian and Anna Haughton featured among the busy programme of London events in June.

Written off by some as a dying area, the latest Old Master series in London defied the naysayers with encouraging results during its traditional ‘grand finale’ slot at the end of the London sales season.

Launched earlier this year, the two-day New Road Vintage Market in Brighton has four dates in 2017, with the next on Saturday and Sunday, July 22-23.

“If I was a dealer, I’d buy the whole lot and put on a show. He’s a sort of great ‘undiscovered’ artist.” Mimi Lay of the Penzance auction house David Lay is referring to a consignment of graphic art by the 20th century painter and lithographer Richard Platt (b.1928).

The Zettler Glass Manufactory was founded in Munich in 1870 by Francis Xavier Zettler (1841-1916) and his father-in-law Joseph Gabriel Mayer (1808-83) – two men who combined a deep religious conviction with a love of medieval culture.