Decorative Art

Opposition to the ‘outsourcing’ of UK hallmarks overseas is gathering momentum in the trade. Campaigners say the use of British hallmarks in India threatens a 700-year-old system for stamping precious metals.

This George III coconut cup with silver strapwork mounts sold by Lyon & Turnbull of Edinburgh provides a glimpse of the close relationship that existed between Scotland and Russia in the late 18th century.

A group of British silversmiths, jewellery retailers and manufacturers has launched a campaign against the ‘outsourcing’ of UK hallmarks overseas.

When in the middle of the century Suffolk collector Hugh Marsham Townshend (1878-1967) was amassing a collection of gold-mounted porcelain scent bottles and other trinkets, most were thought to be the products of the Chelsea porcelain works or a shadowy enterprise known as the ‘Girl in a Swing’ factory.

Police are appealing for help following the theft of £10,000 worth of silver from a church in Blockley, near Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire.

A collection of motoring mascots formed by Robert White, a leading UK camera retailer, will be offered at Bonhams next month. Offered in single-owner sale in London on September 19, the consignments include 37 examples by René Lalique.

A Tudor stained glass panel attributed to Galeon Hone, glazier to King Henry VIII, has been stolen from the 16th-century Withcote Chapel, near Market Harborough in Leicestershire.

The V&A have acquired an early form by the artist-potter Hans Coper (1920-81). Made in 1955 in the studio Coper shared with Lucie Rie in Paddington, London, the large bowl was the subject of a temporary export ban in 2015 in the hope a UK buyer could be found.

Studio pottery has been hogging the arts and crafts headlines for a while now. In recent years collectors have really taken this field to heart and items produced by 20th century designers such as Lucie Rie and Hans Coper have been drawing strong bids at auction.

Among the works sold over estimate at today’s silver and jewellery auction at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet was a rare silver-gilt three-piece teaset that tripled expectations when it was knocked down at £4100.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has placed a temporary export bar on a 17th century Florentine pietre dure table top. It was sold in December at Sotheby’s in London for £3m.

Bill Jones is a seasoned dealer in Art Deco and Arts & Crafts but a newcomer to the world of organising fairs, an arena into which he has thrown himself recently with gusto.

The Oval, the international cricket ground at Kennington, south London, which is home to Surrey County Cricket Club, is the location of a new annual fair run by the founders of the Midcentury Modern shows.

Catalogued as white metal, with no hallmarks, a snuff box included in the silver section at Adam Partridge’s recent sale at Macclesfield caused a stir. The mark it did have was that of the great Huguenot maker, David Willaume.

The so-called Lucerne pattern, decorated in primary colours with a stylised Mediterranean chateau in a landscape, ranks among the scarcest and most desirable of all designs from Clarice Cliff’s ‘Appliqué’ range.

Silver collector, expert and author David Constable has had a love affair with spoons since he began collecting in earnest in 1997.

Police are investigating a raid on The Old Mill Antiques Centre in Bridgnorth, Shrophire.

Bonhams are to launch a new range of monthly Home & Interiors auctions in both their Knightsbridge and Edinburgh rooms.

This 18½in (47cm) George II silver soup tureen by the goldsmith Paul de Lamerie featured in Doyle’s latest sale of furniture, works of art and Old Master paintings in New York.

Sotheby’s recent sale of royal and aristocratic heirlooms, titled Of Royal and Noble Descent, included this maiolica istoriato charger.