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Two south-west of England antiques dealers have launched an ‘Antiques Watchdog’ site designed to raise awareness of shoplifting in shops and centres around the country.

Tapestry and textiles specialist Franses has won a landmark Supreme Court case against its landlord, allowing it to continue to operate from the London gallery that has been its home for more than 25 years.

A series of portraits by some of the biggest names in the Old Master market led the way at the latest sales in this category in London. Among them were two versions of a Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) portrait – one fully ascribed to the artist.

Two under-catalogued Sino-Tibetan bronzes illuminated the regional saleroom scene with multi-estimate sums in the final days of November.

Written just a year before his death in 1955, a famous two-page letter in which Albert Einstein put down his thoughts on religion, his Jewish identity and his own search for the meaning of life sold for $2.4m (£1.89m) in a New York auction on December 4.

MADAM – As someone who has been dealing in early furniture for over 50 years and who has served on vetting committees for the Grosvenor House and BADA fairs as well as having been a consultant for Sotheby’s, I find TEFAF’s decision to exclude dealers from their vetting is frankly bizarre.

A toy engine offered at North Yorkshire saleroom Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) sold for what is thought to be a new world record for a Hornby Dublo locomotive.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

This very rare bear shown below made a very high price for such a small fellow – just 14cm (5½in) high.

Literary high spots of a Bonhams (25/10/12% buyer’s premium) sale of November 27 included a three-volume, 1813 first of Jane Austen’s 'Pride and Prejudice'.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

MADAM – Re: condition report charges at Moore Allen & Innocent for lower-value items.

It is 40 years since 19th century potlids were the collectables of choice but there is still a very active market for them.

Along with Pallas’ 'Flora Russica', the 'Icones Plantarum novarum… floram Rossicam' of the German-Estonian botanist Carl Friedrich von Ledebour is recognised as one of the great works on Russian flora.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

MADAM – Now that sticky labels have raised ire in the art world (Letters, ATG passim), your readers might like to know that they are the bookseller’s equivalent of Post-It notes in books.

The highlight of the latest series of Old Master sales in London was not a painting this time around but a rare work on paper by an enigmatic draughtsman.

“When I was putting this exhibition together, a lot of people thought I would not be able to find 50 different women British artists to show. In the end, I could have shown 500,” says Sacha Llewellyn of 20th century British art specialist Liss Llewellyn.

Doom and gloom surrounds retailing in the UK but in the trade plenty of antique centres are bucking the trend. Here we bring you a short focus on a few of them – ideal places to buy a variety of stock offered from a number of dealers in one spot.

MADAM – I appreciate I had my turn the other day (Letters, ATG No 2369), but a quick note covering two points if I may.