Art and antiques news from 2007

Ten telephone bidders drew battle lines with several bidders in the room for this 4ft 8in x 3ft (1.42m x 92cm) giltwood pier glass sold by Saltney, Chester auctioneers Byrne’s on September 29.

VISITORS to the Year_07 Art Fair from October 11-14 can test out a new ticket booking service that could pave the way for other events.

Council puts up new barriers to fend off invasion of clone stores and retail giants

One of the highlights of the September 11-13 sale at Gorringes (17.5% buyer’s premium) was this marquetry panel by A.J. Rowley after a design by Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956).

A delegation of 17 members of the Syndicat National des Maison de Ventes Voluntaires (SyMEV, the main body representing French auctioneers) was in England last week for a three-day study tour investigating different aspects of the UK market.

SPINK have set a new record for an English silver coin with the £180,000 they took for a 1663 Charles II silver Crown on September 27.

CHARTERHOUSE auctioneers in Sherborne, have broken the auction record for a Military Medal group only two months after the previous one was set.

HIGH-end art crime became the focus of media attention after the recovery of Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna of the Yarnwinder last week.

This heraldic ceramic charger by Alfred and Louise Powell, c.1920, is one of 140 examples of Cotswold Arts and Crafts on view at Simon Chorley Art & Antiques from October 13-21 as part of a loan exhibition titled Cotswold Craftsmen, 1894 to the present day.

Provincial auctioneer’s novel twist for breaking into the American market

Mallams, who conducted their final sale in Bicester two weeks ago, have revealed they are in the final stages of negotiations to acquire a new saleroom site in Oxfordshire.

Antiquorum, the world’s leading watch auctioneers, insist it will be “business as usual” following the shock departure this August of the Geneva firm’s charismatic founder, Osvaldo Patrizzi, after a row with Japanese owners Artist House Holdings, who acquired Antiquorum for a reported $30m in 2006.

What price one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy? On December 10, Sotheby’s New York will offer for sale one of just 17 surviving 13th century copies of Magna Carta.

There will be a new slant to this month’s Islamic week of sales in London. In a move presumably aimed to tap into new areas of the lucrative Middle Eastern market, Sotheby’s will inaugurate a sale of Modern and contemporary Arab Iranian Art. The sale will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 24, immediately after their traditional Islamic works of art sale.

WE have heard a lot about antiques being out of fashion, and the best reply is that if antiques are presented stylishly they are always in fashion. Just look at a window of upmarket Fifth Avenue Manhattan store Saks during New York’s Fashion Week. The chief window designer of Saks called on East 61 St dealers Historical Design and said he had the idea of introducing Saks’ new shoe floor with high fashion shoes displayed on vintage chairs.

BONHAMS will auction off the contents of the Savoy Hotel on the premises in London in a three-day sale just days after it closes for a £100 million refurbishment.

IT was the first war painting by a Scottish artist to be exhibited in Scotland and was extensively discussed in the Edinburgh and Glasgow newspapers of January 1941.

THE dealers who found a cache of work by the artist Sir Kyffin Williams in a secret drawer have given it up in the face of legal pressure.

GOLD reached a 27-year high last Friday thanks to the weakness of the US dollar, fears that it will continue to drop, and soaring oil prices. Other factors may include the pending Diwali Festival in India when it is traditional for people to give gifts of gold.

The auction of the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya collection of Russian art was dramatically cancelled the day before the sale following an offer from a Russian businessman for the entire collection.