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Like most provincial auctioneers, Christopher Ewbank was rather apprehensive of the market prior to his October sale on 4 October at Send. “I was relieved really,” said Mr Ewbank after the sale where attendance was strong and the “furniture dealers were still out in force”.

IT wasn’t the most promising opener to the season – a shadow of recession over Britain and as expected, a complete absence of American buyers – so the success at the Halls Welsh Bridge rooms on 21 September was all the more notable.

One of the prettier pieces among the 300 jewellery and silver lots put up at Edinburgh by Phillips (15/10% buyer’s premium) on September 21 was this diamond, rock crystal and nephret lily-of-the-valley brooch, right. Estimated at up to £1000, it sold at £1500.

EVIDENCE of the growing affinity between the worlds of antiques and decoration was to the fore at the recent Decorex International, held at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea from September 23-26.

Fresh quality stock may be thin on the ground at present, but the early 19th century mahogany sideboard and the mid-18th century oak dresser, pictured, which provided the single highlights of their respective sales, were proof that hope should not yet be abandoned.

FRANCE: With Art Deco becoming increasingly rare and costly, collectors and auctioneers are starting to take a serious interest in Post-Deco: furniture and furnishings from the 1940s and later.

Figured in Marble: The Making and Viewing of 18th-Century Sculpture by Malcolm Baker, published by V&A Publications. ISBN 1851772987 £50 hb

The Artful Teapot by Garth Clark, published by Thames & Hudson. ISBN 050051045 £28 hb

Trade warned to read small print telling of charges before filling in forms. Dealers are again at risk of falling foul of a questionable marketing ploy that could leave them facing bills of hundreds if not thousands of pounds.

20th Century Ceramic Designers in Britain by Andrew Casey, published by the Antique Collectors’ Club. ISBN1851493522 £39.50 hb

THE trade’s fears that the events of September 11 would usher in the long expected recession with a collapse in international bidding were allayed here in Herefordshire at Brightwells on 12-13 September.

The rediscovery of a significant work by a major Old Master painter is always an event for the art trade, even if the work not obviously commercial. When Anthony Blunt wrote his monograph on Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665) this painting, right, of The Holy Family with St. John the Baptist, executed c.1627-28 when the young Poussin first worked in Rome, was only known from engravings.

Concrete garden furniture is the hottest new thing on the market, says Arundel, West Sussex dealer Spencer Swaffer who is finding benches, chairs, jardinières and planters flying out of his shop almost as soon as they arrive.

PROBABLY the greatest success story of recent years, the railwayana market fostered and virtually cornered by Ian Wright at Sheffield continues to flourish.

Last week’s German and Austrian art sales, the first major test of international art market since September 11, pointed to difficult conditions ahead for Sotheby’s and Christie’s – and indeed Phillips – during the forthcoming winter season.

Cloudband.com, the specialist Website firm for rugs and textiles, have had their financing badly hit as a direct result of terrorist attacks in New York on September 11.

As well as providing a venue for pop concerts and motor-cross rallies, Tredegar House is also a favourite location for auctioneers. Last year Sotheby’s used the 16th century estate for their Welsh sale – this year it hosted Phillips auction of The Arts in Wales.

Lawyers have filed a motion attempting to quash a case that has the potential to blight the entire trade in Egyptian antiquities in the United States.

Several auction records were broken when Christie’s New York sold the library of Abel E. Berland in an October 8-9 sale that saw 90 per cent of lots sold for a premium-inclusive total of $14.4m (£9.8m).

Next month will see a crop of Oriental auctions as part of Asian Art in London, the capital’s celebration of the rich vein of commercial and non commercial treasures and expertise on offer in its galleries, salerooms and museums. For those hungry for goods in the meantime, Bonhams & Brooks (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) opted to go ahead of the general run and offer a large 420-lot oriental gathering on September 26.