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Claire Schonhut launched Beya Fontenay with her husband Jack two years ago. The company saves relics from the past which would otherwise be scrapped. They “aren’t on the lookout for anything specific, but are attracted to anything which inspires”.

At just after 10am on July 19, William Porter – the first of four carefully chosen auctioneers – climbed the rostrum to a ripple of applause from an audience of two dozen staff and a dozen or so buyers. “Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Christie’s South Kensington and welcome to the Interiors sale.” Long pause. “For the last time,” he said. “Boo,” heckled a voice from the front.

Bookings are going well for the collaborative venture between B2B Events and Bentleys Fairs at the beginning of August.

This work above by the popular cartoonist Max Beerbohm (1872-1956) was a highlight of Mallams’ library sale on June 21.

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

Possibly made for a member of the French monarchy, this post-medieval gold ring combines the heraldic fleur-de-lis motif with blue kite-shaped sapphires.

The two galleries in Wales that fall under the umbrella of Martin Tinney celebrate local art in their summer shows.

Auctioneers and dealers will have to decide whether to absorb the cost of credit card transactions or pass them on to buyers in another form when a ban on all such fees comes into force in January 2018.

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

Coming up next for Cooper Events is the second of three annual Cotswolds Decorative Fairs, which take place in the grand hall of Westonbirt School in Burnham-on-Sea.

London Art Week (June 30-July 7) had its first run as a biannual event organised by a limited company.

The closure of Christie's South Kensington has meant several firms are vying to gain a slice of the market in one of London's wealthiest area as well as draw the specialist staff who are moving on.

ATG's selection of quotes about the closure of Christie’s South Kensington...

An extraordinarily rich and varied crop of book sales have taken place this summer.

A superb set of decorated armour sold at Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) is believed to have set a record. The £880,000 hammer price for the three-quarter-length cuirassier protection is believed to be the highest auction result for 17th century armour.

The interest in studio pottery goes beyond the premier names in the field. Three pieces by Waistel Cooper (1921-2003), a Scot who worked first in Porlock in Somerset and later from the Barbican Pottery in Penzance, generated plenty of bidding at Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19% buyer’s premium) July 6 sale in Taunton.

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

The pretty Suffolk coastal town of Southwold is well known for its delightful pier, Adnam’s brewery, multi-coloured beach huts and a Grade II-listed lighthouse in the middle of the town.

I grew up with Christie’s South Kensington. In late 1975, when I joined the fledgling four-year-old Antiques Trade Gazette, CSK was in its first year of existence.

As with many collectors and dealers, the antiques passion started in an auction room. As a child, some of Amanda Allinson’s earliest memories are of sitting with her grandma in the County Durham rooms of Addisons Auctioneers in Barnard Castle, the town where she grew up.