Dealers' Diary

Richard Lobel is the founder of numismatic dealership Coincraft. Trading for 63 years, it celebrates its 50th anniversary in London this year

The Northern Antiques Fair, an annual Harrogate event, is a chance for connoisseur buyers in the north to shop a little closer to home.

This rare pair of Minton majolica hen and rooster vases priced at £16,675 on the stand of Madelena will be among the highlights of the Arley Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair in Cheshire which runs from September 28-30.

Japonisme, western art inspired by Japanese art and design, is the theme of the next Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in London’s Battersea. At the event, which runs from October 2-7, a showcase in the foyer focuses on pieces that reflect the influence of Japanese design on European interiors.

Persian rug dealer John AW Briggs from Scotland is among the exhibitors at this year’s Northern Antiques Fair.

The British Art Fair is an annual feeding ground for collectors of modern and post-war British art. This year’s staging of the 30-year-old event, which runs from September 20-23, marks a new chapter for the fair as it moves to London’s Saatchi Gallery.

A series of woodblock prints by the Japanese artist Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) portrays the 47 ronin, a group of ferociously loyal samurai who famously avenged their master’s death.

A Maori quarterstaff and an Indian suit of armour are among the diverse highlights being shown at the next Antiques Arms Fair taking place at the Pillar Hall, Olympia.

Nicholas Bagshawe of Bagshawe Fine Art founded his business in 1979. He specialises in British painting of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

British modernist Kenneth Lauder (1916-2004) used to entreat his opticians to create spectacles that would allow him to see the world upside down. They refused, but he remained determined to view life in a different way.

Racing round the banking at Brooklands in Surrey, Sir Tim Birkin is shown to dramatic effect in this oil painting by Dion Pears, below.

Romanians, Hungarians, Saxons, Roma and Russians have all historically lived in the area in central Romania known as Transylvania. Each group had its own distinct culture, but after years of living side-by-side these ‘families’ drew inspiration from one another.

Dealer Mel Caswell, based in Bristol, specialises in Japanese art and unusual objects.

When is the right time to buy a piece of rare antique silver – a George III caviar dish, say?

Jeremy Astfalck of The Old Corkscrew is a specialist silver dealer with a business encompassing all areas of the 19th and 20th century decorative arts genre. He is among the dealers at this month’s LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair.

Mayfair gallery Connaught Brown is staging the first solo exhibition of French Neo-Impressionist and Symbolist painter Henri Martin (1860-1943) to take place in London for a number of years.

A late 19th century kingwood and ormolu mounted jardinière, offered for £4995 by Mark Buckley Antiques of Ilkley, is among the pieces on show at Galloway Fairs’ next event at Duncombe Park.

Created to impress and instruct, textiles played an important role in the history of the Catholic Church.

'Elements of Foliate Heads' will be instantly familiar to fans of John Piper (1903-92), despite the fact that the picture has not been on the market for more than half a century.