Art and antiques news from 2007

It is only 3.25in (8cm) high, but it made more than any sculpture or antiquity ever offered at auction.

SPINK have acquired the assets of Collectors Gallery and have appointed the managing partner of the dealership Mike Veissid as director for their new bond and share department.

Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull have been named among the runners up in the Bank of Scotland £25m Entrepreneur Challenge, a national competition designed to identify and support excellence in businesses.

SMALL in size but large in shock value, this portrait miniature stunned the Gorringes’ saleroom when it sold at £90,000 plus 17.5 per cent buyer’s premium on December 6.

EU ruling may supersede court decision on eBay’s status

FAIRS are set to return to Alexandra Palace in North London, which for years was a favourite trade venue. The last Alexandra Palace fair was held on November 19, 2006.

SPECIALIST glass dealer Ron Wheeler is alerting the trade to a possible scam after being approached via email by someone looking for gifts.

Bonhams are being sued in a case that could have a significant impact on contracts between vendors and auction houses.

Among the highlights of Tennants’ Autumn Catalogue sale held in Leyburn on November 22-23 was this exceptional Victorian Egyptian revival table clock.

A LARGE number of dealers at Antiquarius in London’s King’s Road will have to quit the premises next year following the landlord’s decision to redevelop half the property.

TREASURY plans to close tax loopholes for the wealthiest foreigners living in the UK could seriously damage the art market, it is feared.

Ten Mouseman stools were stolen from The Forresters Arms Hotel in Kilburn, North Yorkshire in the early hours of Monday, November 26.

THE British Museum were credited with uncovering the fraud that led to the jailing of serial faker Shaun Greenhalgh two weeks ago, while auction houses and the trade were criticised for selling his work.

Russian week in London saw over ten sales offered at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Bonhams and specialist Russian auctioneers MacDougall’s last week.

EXHIBITORS and observers were shocked when Stephanie Dieckvoss, show manager of the Winter Olympia Fine Art & Antiques Fair, left Clarion Events, the show’s owners, just five days after the fair closed on November 18.

ONCE the largest city outside London, Norwich had its own silver assay office during three periods between 1565 and 1702.

It was a headline writer’s dream: an 80-year-old William Crawford & Sons biscuit tin still with its original contents intact sold at auction for a massive £13,000 (plus 20 per cent buyer’s premium). Crumbs! Cookie tin brings a lot of dough (Reuters) was just one of a number of groaning puns.

A Kent dealer has fallen victim to a thief whose practised deception suggests he will strike again.

Woolley & Wallis still hold the record for any item sold at auction in the UK outside London. Now it looks like their chairman, Paul Viney, could also hold the record for the top price raised for a single lot at a charity auction.

Kent auctioneers Hobbs Parker are to close in the New Year. After more than 50 years selling antiques and fine art in Ashford, the parent company have chosen to close the division in the face of rising rent and external competition.