Art and antiques news from 2006

POLICE have confirmed they are committed to tracing over 40 rare books stolen from Manchester’s Central Library after a senior judge demanded that greater efforts be made to recover them.

Weighing 1.5 tonnes, Eduardo Paolozzi’s (1924-2005) Master of the Universe is winched into position outside the Edinburgh saleroom of Lyon and Turnbull. The sculpture, one of an edition of four, provided the highlight of the auctioneer’s first Contemporary Art Sale on September 1, selling to Edinburgh gallery Bourne Fine Art on behalf of a client at an artist’s record of £120,000 (plus buyer’s premium).

ALMOST one in five antiques dealers have not returned a year on from Hurricane Katrina, but there are tales of better fortunes for some.

THE Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) has made its second Droit de Suite pay-out to artists. It means that the collecting agency has now distributed over £65,000 since the resale levy was implemented in February. More than 140 artists have now received payments from DACS.

Assay Office London will hold their next Fakes and Forgeries seminar at Goldsmiths’ Hall on Wednesday, January 24.

By the mid 19th century it had been completely discredited as a science, but between the 1820s and 1840s phrenology was at the peak of its popularity. And Edinburgh, where the first phrenological society was founded in 1820, was one of its centres.

LAST week's fire at the Royal Academy building at 6 Burlington Gardens is unlikely to affect the fairs scheduled to be held at the premises next year.

ATG's pioneering live bidding service went East on August 31 - participating in the sale of Oriental and Asian Coins, Medals, and Banknotes conducted in Hong Kong by Baldwin's in association with MA Tak Wo Numismatic Co. Ltd of Hong Kong and Monetarium Pte Ltd of Singapore.

THIEVES have raided a fair in Belgium and stolen antique jewellery from one of Europe's leading dealers in period jewellery.

Lyon and Turnbull have announced a record turnover of almost £9m for their latest year of trading.

FOOTBALL may be known as The Beautiful Game, but as anyone who supports a Scottish non-league team will tell you, it can sometimes seem more like viewing a scrum than watching a spectacle of sublime flair and silky skill.

THE Edvard Munch paintings The Scream and the Madonna have been recovered by Norwegian police. They were stolen from an Oslo museum two years ago.

THE UK's Information Commissioner is to investigate whether eBay are in breach of the Data Protection Act by obstructing the removal of customers' personal details from their website.

In major league baseball, the favourite sport of the worldÕs richest nation, there is an annual tradition of honouring the player in the league who has contributed most to the success of their team. It is known as the Most Valuable Player Award or the M.V.P.

A vast photographic postcard archive depicting Devon in the first half of the 20th century has emerged in Nottinghamshire.

Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis are putting up their buyer’s premium from 15 to 17.5 per cent plus VAT.

The formal state carriage from the family of the Marquess of Londonderry scheduled to be sold by Thimbleby & Shorland on September 6 has been withdrawn from sale by the vendor.

First there was Phillips Reunited, now there is the Bonhams Chelsea Reunion.

Well-known West Sussex auctioneer Rupert Toovey has been appointed the new chairman of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Arts and Antiques faculty board.

Phillips de Pury & Company will raise the curtain on their new London headquarters with a Contemporary Art and Design Art sale on October 14.