Art and antiques news from 2006

Leading numismatic auctioneers and dealers Spink have announced the acquisition of B.J. Dawson Coins. Brian Dawson, who opened his first shop in Bolton, Lancashire and has over 40 years’ experience in the coin trade, will join the firm as director of the coin dealing business for Spink.

The tripod table is among the selection of Early Mahogany furniture that contributes to the ACC Antique Furniture Price Index. The sector recorded a 6% fall in 2005 – with tripod tables of routine quality dropping in price – but better examples of any form will buck the general trend.

For the fourth year running, prices for standard pieces of antique furniture have fallen, according the Antique Collectors’ Club’s annual index. The figures for 2005 saw the Antique Furniture Index register a record fall of seven per cent to create the best buyers’ market for more than a decade.

Two fine lots of 17th century English pewter greeted New Year bidders in the country.

Ninety-one-year-old John Werner Kluge is the stuff of the American Dream – a German immigrant who amassed his fortune in the States buying radio and television stations.

Buoyed up by an increasing number of consignments from England, Edinburgh-based auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull are opening an office in central London.

Christie’s have announced £1.8bn ($3.2bn) in global sales for 2005, the highest total in the firm’s history and more than 30 per cent up on 2004.

Sales at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris rose 16 per cent in 2005 to €414m (£280m), but firms based elsewhere in the city also continued to increase their market share.

ST James’s gallery Frost and Reed, founded in 1808, have undergone a management shake-up and will have an increased focus on Contemporary art.

Helped by a £2.6m windfall, Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis emerged from 2005 as the largest-grossing UK provincial saleroom.

AFTER buying two of the most famous flea-markets in Paris, the Duke of Westminster’s property company and their partners say they will undertake new ways of promoting the historic sites.

...and I’ll fight it in the courts if I have to

PARTRIDGE are to relaunch themselves on the fairs scene with a stand at the British Antique Dealers Association fair in March.

18th century French furniture was much in evidence on both sides of the Channel at the end of last year. It was the mainstay of two single-owner collections offered at the height of the pre-Christmas season.