Art and antiques news from 2009

THERE was high drama at the Mackworth Hotel, Derbyshire on April 15 when a creamware teapot and cover carrying a telling political message sold for £69,000.

KENSINGTON and Chelsea council are holding a public planning meeting on Tuesday to consider the application to turn the King’s Road antiques centre Antiquarius into a branch of the American clothing chain Anthropologie.

A LEGAL dispute in the US Federal court over auction guarantees could lead to a tightening of the terms and conditions under which they are issued.

HENRY Sandon, one of the best-known figures in the British antiques world, has called on the UK government to provide more support for the industry.

THE highlight of the specialist arms and armour sale conducted by Sworders from their Sudbury rooms on April 7 was an important part medal group awarded to Sir Halliday Macartney (1833-1906), a soldier-turned-diplomat with a long official connection with China.

COTSWOLDS specialist in sporting antiques Manfred Schotten can usually be relied upon to turn up some quirky, offbeat but interesting items, and drawing on the wide world of sport and leisure pursuits he has plenty of scope.

A BANKRUPT Suffolk antiques dealer who went on the run to Bulgaria after swindling creditors in a £1.9m fraud has been jailed for ten years.

FAIR organiser Ingrid Nilson has announced that she is to give up The Autumn Antiques Antiques and Fine Art Fair at Cheltenham Racecourse.

LIVEAUCTIONEERS have posted figures for their first quarter as a stand-alone online auctions platform.

Dr William Lindsay Gordon, a Birmingham GP who died last year, had a fascination for English history especially the Stuart era.

Edinburgh-based dealers Georgian Antiques have pulled off one of their more remarkable sales – 7000 hickory-shafted golf clubs to a Chinese businessman who found them when surfing the internet.

SPECULATION is rising that many more restituted works of art may end up being offered for sale following a ruling made by Vienna’s city council.

THIS carved ivory icon of a warrior saint sparked a ferocious bidding contest when it appeared at Hampstead Auctions' sale on March 26.

A COUPLE dealing in antique desks have issued a warning over internet addresses after discovering that a rival was using their name to divert potential customers to his own website.

SOTHEBY’S are to continue with their strategy of focusing on their top-end clients while reducing lot volumes below the $5000 level.

THIS van, pictured here, was clean, but dozens of others were not when security checks for entry-fee dodgers swung into action at Swinderby on March 31 and April 1.

Next month a Russian businessman and collector will open the world’s first museum dedicated to the Russian Imperial jeweller Fabergé.

THE National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers will hold their annual summer conference between 10am and 5pm on June 15 at Manor House Golf Club, Castle Combe in Wiltshire.

Six months after the most significant hallmarking deception case in living memory, the Assay Office has published a guide detailing many of the Peter Ashley-Russell fakes and forgeries. The document is available to download for free at www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/assayoffice

LAWRENCE B. Salander, the former owner of the bankrupt Manhattan art gallery Salander-O’Reilly, has been charged in a 100-count indictment with stealing $88m. He faces up to 25 years in prison.