UK

More than 400 online enquiries came through the 'London Art Week' (LAW) website during its preview day last Thursday as it kicked off a new virtual format.

Sixteen upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.

Joan Dunk (1930-2019) was a Portobello Road market stalwart. Her stall, for decades an outside pitch on the corner of Westbourne Grove, was affectionately known as IDA – the trade name of an early 20th century German kitchen equipment manufacturer which she adapted to mean ‘Interesting Domestic Appliances’.

Silver made in both Britain and the Continent provides a wide variety for buyers via auctions and dealers across the globe. Here ATG picks out a selection of 13 recent sales and upcoming lots.

This 12½in (31cm) ruby lustre jar and cover, a textbook piece from William De Morgan’s Sands End Pottery (1888-1907), was the star at a recent sale at Bowler & Binnie (16% buyer’s premium) in Dunfermline.

Consignments from vendors with a close connection to famous artists are always a welcome boon for any auction.

A new catalogue on painter-etcher Michael Blaker (1929-2018) includes a picture he executed of one of his friends as well as an etching by her.

Focus on two centres and a Cheshire fair as dealers and organisers encourage visitors

The easing of lockdown rules across the UK and Ireland will help the art and antiques sector return to some normality during the summer months.

Art specialist Buffy Parker has launched Parker Fine Art Auctions in Surrey and will hold his first sale in September.

The former boss of Online Galleries and 1stdibs International plans a ‘private members club’ marketplace for antiques dealers.

This 8 x 10in (21 x 25cm) oil on canvas board sketch of two farmhands cutting grasses with a scythe is unsigned but it carries a label on the back from an Ipswich Borough Council exhibition which identifies the artist as Harry Becker (1865-1928) and the picture’s title as Fieldworkers in Mid-Summer.

Jewellery provided one of the great expressions of the Art Nouveau style. Here ATG reports on four exceptional items made in four different countries in the early years of the 20th century