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Dennis Tito is evidently not the only American millionaire with a fascination for space exploration.

UK: Moroccan textiles were the strong suit in Christie’s South Kensington’s May 4 sale of Islamic and Indian textiles, none more so than this impressive 2ft 3in x 8ft x6in (70cm x 2.6m) silk-embroidered linen ceremonial panel dated to the 18th century and worked with striking abstract designs.

One of the high points of Bonhams & Brooks’ May 2 sale in the London Islamic Series of sales was a 10in (25cm) square Isnik tile, pictured, dated to c.1580.

FRANCE: François Curiel, 52, is to replace Hugues Joffre as head of Christie’s France in an adminstrative shake-up that also sees the departure of Christie’s French Director-General Franck Prazan, who helped mastermind the firm’s transfer to their new premises on Avenue Matignon. Joffre and Prazan are both expected to leave the firm.

UK: Preliminary proceedings have begun at the High Court in a £100m claim by the estate of Francis Bacon against Marlborough Fine Art (London) and Lichtenstein-registered Marlborough International Fine Art. The estate claims the galleries were in breach of fiduciary duty and exerted “undue influence” in their dealings with the artist.

This month sees New York auctioneers Doyle (15/10 per cent buyer’s premium) offering two significant separately-catalogued single-owner collections within the space of a fortnight.

The former chairmen of Christie’s and Sotheby’s last week were charged with a criminal conspiracy to fix the rates of commissions worth “at least $400 million”, in a dramatic twist to a four year US Government investigation into the two auction houses.

Silver spirit labels (‘Holland’ refers to Dutch Gin) are not quite two a penny, but they are among the cheapest drinking trinkets available.

Having dispersed the collection of Sir John Gielgud early last month Sotheby’s (20/15/10% buyer’s premium) went on to offer that of his good friend, fellow thespian and fellow knight of the realm, the late Sir Ralph Richardson, on April 27.

UK: A dozen telephone lines led to the Tithe Barn salerooms of Bruton Knowles, near Cheltenham on April 26, all contesting the finest lot of period satinwood in the provinces this year.

UK: This elegant 4ft 3in (1.3m) wide early Georgian mahogany two-door commode stole the show at Phillips’ furniture sale in London on Tuesday, April 24, when it sold for £500,000 to London dealers Jeremy Ltd.

UK: An ancient Celtic gold ornament provided the high point of Christie’s South Kensington’s Antiquities sale last week when it was purchased for £1m by London’s British Museum, to whom it was on loan from 1993 to 2000.

Every sector of the auction market has been feeling jittery about the prospect of economic slowdown in the US. Wine sales have already had to re-adjust to more sober trading conditions after the binge of sales that led up to Millennium and auctioneers on both sides of the Atlantic have been understandably nervous about rich clients thinking that $5000 cases of wine have become an unjustifiable luxury.

UK: THE contenders for the British Antiques and Collectables Awards were announced last week in an impressive list which includes a cross-section of familiar and less well known names from town and country.

FOLLOWING the suspension of share trading in Icollector, the firm have announced that they are involved in merger talks.

LAPADA, the Association of Art and Antique Dealers, have set out a three-point plan to help the trade meet the demands of the Kent Bill. They also plan to use the scheme to monitor possible legislation elsewhere across the country.

LONDON-based Haughton International Fairs have changed the name of their International 20th Century Arts Fair to The International Art + Design Fair 1900-2001.

“IT’S a British phenomenon,” said Sheffield Railwayana’s specialist Ian Wright of the wealthy private collectors who regularly pay thousands of pounds for locomotive nameplates, cabsides, posters and railway ephemera in Sheffield Railwayana's quarterly sales.

Heavy snow across Staffordshire on the morning of this 800-lot dispersal did not deter buyers, with the auctioneers noticing a marked increase in the usual number of phone bids.

Some payouts expected by June. Buyers and sellers at Sotheby’s and Christie’s will now be able to sue the auctioneers through the United States courts over transactions that took place in London and elsewhere outside the US.