UK

The Mayor of London has confirmed the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit will re-form and will be led by a new head to take office this month.

Maltese furniture commands a premium – and not simply because it appeals to a committed group of island collectors.

Martel Maides in St Peter Port, Guernsey will sell a massive collection of Channel Islands silver on October 18, writes Roland Arkell.

Top-seller at guns specialist Southams (15% buyer’s premium) in Bedford on September 20 was acased pair of flintlock double-barrelled travelling pistols.

A single-owner collection relating to the English Civil War featured among the 740 lots that made up a September 6 sale held by Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (21% buyer’s premium).

Narwhal tusks, once sold for colossal sums to Elizabethan gentleman as unicorn horns, continue to be in demand as sculptural natural history objects of contemplation.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Dealer Mark Weiss specialises in Tudor and Stuart portraiture and for the past few years he has spent early October exhibiting at Frieze Masters.

This film poster, below, was designed by the Czech artist Olga Poláčková-Vyleťalová for 'Une Femme Douce' (A Gentle Woman) based on a Dostoevsky short story.

A ‘Glory of Science’ sale held by Bloomsbury Auctions (24/18/12% buyer’s premium) on September 14 included books, prints, photographs, letters, etc, and was one in which astronomy and space travel played a significant part where higher bids were concerned.

As the autumn season kicks off, there is a wealth of art and antiques events to choose from around the UK. This week, ATG takes a look at three upcoming fairs beyond the London market: 'The Northern Antiques Fair' in Harrogate, the 'Bruton Decorative Antiques Fair' and the 'Chester Antiques Show'.

If Julia Brisbane, organiser of Antiques in Tents, ever wanted a publicist for her biannual traditional and decorative antiques fairs at Burton Court, near Leominster, she need look no further than one of her exhibitors, decorative dealer Kieran Mathewson.