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NOTTINGHAMSHIRE police are planning to return £24,000 worth of antiques at the Newark fair this Friday to dealers who accepted cheques from a fraudster.

Initially catalogued as “an Eastern walnut three-tier table, brass mounted and fitted three flaps, 2ft (64cm) wide when open” and estimated at just £150-200, the appraisal of this stylish table seen at Simon Chorley of Southam, near Cheltenham, Gloucester on November 30 was radically upgraded when it was identified as the work of Aesthetic architect and designer Edward William Godwin (1833-1886).

ON December 28, 1792 Anglo-Irish statesman, orator and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-97) enacted the melodrama in Parliament that became known as the Dagger Scene.

This Edgar Degas bronze owned by the late art dealer Lillian Browse has been saved for the nation in a deal brokered by Christie’s in lieu of inheritance tax. It follows a similar sale recently arranged by the auctioneers that saw the National Gallery acquire two works by Italian artist Giovanni Paolo Panini.

A set of 38 individual original metal printing plates used for the illustrations for John Lennon’s first book, are to go under the hammer on December 2 at Dickins of Middle Claydon, Bucks.

Son of Sir James Thornhill, brother-in-law to William Hogarth and serjeant painter to the King, John Thornhill was also a founder member of the Whig Beefsteak Club.

While many are still finding the market sluggish for standard English brown furniture, there is no shortage of demand at the top end as shown by results from the latest sales in London.

A new exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America opens at the Museum in Docklands this month.

The highlight of the Lowestoft porcelain sale conducted by enthusiast Russell H. Sprake at The Beaconsfield Club, Lowestoft on the evening of October 27 was this rare blue and white birth tablet.

Sotheby’s have revised employee incentive packages in a move that should help stabilise costs and prevent key staff from being poached by rivals.

November saw the art market hit a new high as Christie’s capped a remarkable series of New York sales with a record $240m (£131m) for post-War and Contemporary art.

Two sections of a painting by Francis Hayman are being officially re-united for the first time in almost three centuries at London dealer Philip Mould’s new gallery in Dover Street.

The discovery of two small panels by Fra Angelico (c.1395-1455) in a semi-detached house in Oxford ranks as one of the most remarkable art finds this country has ever witnessed.

More than 400 guests gathered to celebrate the Asian Art in London awards at the Burlington Gardens rooms of the Royal Academy on Wednesday night last week.

Domestic Interiors Database, a free online database charting the history of the domestic interior since 1400 in Western Europe and North America, is now available for study.

Feeding frenzy sets new record as bidders get their fill despite absence of Lloyd Webber Picasso

Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern art sale of 83 lots on November 7 generated $238m (£131.5m) and was the auctioneers’ highest auction total since the previous Impressionist and Modern high water mark of May 1990.

MUSEUMS are so strapped for cash when it comes to buying works of art that only one in 50 says adding to their collections is now a top priority.

IT was the Gothic furniture that was in strongest demand at Sotheby’s Haute Epoque sale in Bond Street last week, none more so than this massive 16th/17th oak refectory table that was bid to an astonishing £420,000 (plus premium).

Trading standards officers say close to 100 unpaid consignors have been unable to contact Gadsbys Auctioneers and Valuers, of Tuxford Road, Leicester after the company abruptly stopped trading two months ago.