Art and antiques news from 2009

Bloomsbury Auctions are to increase their buyer’s premium from 20 to 22 per cent.

Dreweatts have stepped up their competition for London business by appointing James James-Crook as Director of Business Development, with immediate effect.

THREE weeks after cheque-bouncing dealer Tony Nowaosad vowed to settle his debt at Durrants Auction Rooms, he has still not done so, say the auctioneers.

TREDEGAR House in Monmouthshire has welcomed back this miniature piece of George I walnut thanks to a series of grants led by the Art Fund.

July saw the final sale to liquidate the enormous inventory that constituted Merritt’s Antiques.

This 113/4in (29cm) high slate sculpture titled Maquette for Large Sculpture: Four-Square (Four-Circle) was the first that Penzance auctioneer David Lay had offered for sale.

David Lester has unveiled his new plans for next year’s summer Olympia, now branded the London International Fine Art Fair.

PARTRIDGE Fine Art chairman Mark Law has told ATG that the firm’s bank called in administrators after giving him only 90 minutes notice to pay off their £3m loan facility.

PARTRIDGE Fine Art, the landmark Bond Street dealership in business for more than 100 years, went into administration this week.

FLORIDA fairs impresario David Lester and his wife Lee Ann have taken control of the summer Olympia fair. They have already rebranded it the London International Fine Art Fair.

THE organisers of the TEFAF Maastricht fair are inviting dealers to apply for stands in a new specialist works-on-paper section at next year’s event.

A MULTITUDE of intriguing items sprung up at Dreweatts' 250-year Anniversary sale at Donnington Priory on July 14-15.

OVER the past year, dealers have voiced fears that a proposed European Union Directive banning energy inefficient incandescent light bulbs could seriously damage the trade in antique lighting.

THIS intricate piece of turning and carving is by Binh Pho, widely regarded as the finest woodturner working in the world today. It will be just one of a number of lots created by the cream of the woodturning world being offered at a charity auction on August 7.

CHANGES to the hierarchy were on the agenda at the AGM of the British Antique Dealers’ Association on July 7, the most important being the appointment of Harrogate picture dealer Ian Walker as the new chairman of the association.

THE dealer who bounced a cheque at Durrants Auction Rooms, reported in last week's ATG has come forward to say it was a 'hiccup' and the bill will be paid.

FLORIDA-based fair organiser David Lester and his wife Lee-Ann have secured a deal with Clarion Events to become the directors of the June Olympia art and antiques fair.

THE busiest week of the year for Old Masters in London provided further signs that the top end of this market is surviving the downturn better than its modern counterparts.

A LENGTHY police investigation has led to the jailing of a retired solicitor, convicted on charges linked to money laundering and efforts to sell a stolen £500,000 painting.

IN his long career, Leslie Weller of Weller King in West Sussex has handled many varied and interesting commissions, but he now finds himself in a unique position, having been asked by a client in the north of England to find a new home for a complete collection of Arts and Crafts furniture.