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Ten Mouseman stools were stolen from The Forresters Arms Hotel in Kilburn, North Yorkshire in the early hours of Monday, November 26.

THE British Museum were credited with uncovering the fraud that led to the jailing of serial faker Shaun Greenhalgh two weeks ago, while auction houses and the trade were criticised for selling his work.

Russian week in London saw over ten sales offered at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Bonhams and specialist Russian auctioneers MacDougall’s last week.

EXHIBITORS and observers were shocked when Stephanie Dieckvoss, show manager of the Winter Olympia Fine Art & Antiques Fair, left Clarion Events, the show’s owners, just five days after the fair closed on November 18.

It was a headline writer’s dream: an 80-year-old William Crawford & Sons biscuit tin still with its original contents intact sold at auction for a massive £13,000 (plus 20 per cent buyer’s premium). Crumbs! Cookie tin brings a lot of dough (Reuters) was just one of a number of groaning puns.

A Kent dealer has fallen victim to a thief whose practised deception suggests he will strike again.

Kent auctioneers Hobbs Parker are to close in the New Year. After more than 50 years selling antiques and fine art in Ashford, the parent company have chosen to close the division in the face of rising rent and external competition.

Early works of art might be seen as something of a Cinderella area of the market, somewhat left behind when compared to contemporary and Asian art or even some other traditional fields.

THE 2007 Dealers Vs Auctioneers charity football match raised more than £10,600 in aid of Breast Cancer Haven.

A gang of thieves are targeting dealers in Hatton Garden, using diversionary tactics to grab briefcases and bags.

Bonhams have announced the appointment of a new managing director of Scotland and confirmed that new premises have been found in Edinburgh.

Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks has issued a public statement taking a strong stand against the guarantee system following the November art sales in New York and London.

Gagosian’s bid gives Sotheby’s new heart

LAPADA have appointed Emma Kendrick-White, to be fair organiser for their London showcase Objects of Desire: The LAPADA London Fair, the third of which will be held at the Royal Academy, Burlington Gardens from May 8 to 11 next year.

THE latest development in imaging technology means that it may soon become much simpler and cheaper to analyse the paint layers of works of art.

Stella Show Management have said that Antiques at the Armory, the January 18-20 antiques show at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City, will go ahead as planned.

As one dealer put it: “The How name is a little insurance policy for the future.”

Lawrence B. Salander, the embattled Manhattan art dealer, has filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy protection citing debts of between $50m and $100m.

Anyone who picked up Sotheby’s latest Chinese catalogue for their November 7 sale in London could not have failed to notice the stunning blue and white Qianlong moonflask on the catalogue cover, the piece that topped the sale when it sold for £2.5m.

THE first book on swimming printed in England was Everard Digby’s De arte natandi of 1587.