Letters to the Editor

MADAM – I believe I can shed some light on the story regarding the Gilbert Rae’s embossed tin sign (Letters, ATG Nos 2389 & 2391) – also pictured below.

MADAM – I take great issue with the recent letter on Penny Farthings written by Peter W Card (ATG No 2391).

MADAM – David Southwell (Letters, ATG No 2392) makes a good point but there are reasons for auctioneers refusing credit cards.

MADAM – In Letters, ATG No 2390, Nicholas Oddy raises the question of the origin of the term ‘white-glove sale’ (an auction in which all lots are sold).

MADAM – I was interested to see the reference to the Canning Jewel (News, ATG No 2390).

MADAM – As a collector, not a dealer, of fine-quality bracket clocks and live steam engines, I do not have unlimited funds and therefore have to sometimes sell one item in order to acquire another for my collection.

MADAM – With regard to Peter Card’s letter (ATG No 2391) regarding the use of the term ‘Penny Farthing’ instead of ‘Ordinary Bicycle’, it is the same as the term ‘Hoover’ when referring to a vacuum cleaner of any manufacture.

MADAM – I have noticed an increasing penchant for editors, advertisers and auction companies to use the term ‘Penny Farthing’ in the pages of ATG when in fact they should be using the term ‘Ordinary Bicycle’, or, if there is a need to be more descriptive, ‘High Bicycle’.

MADAM – Robert Vince asks an interesting question of the tin-printed Gilbert Rae show-card (Letters, ATG No 2389).

Copy of a letter sent to Jeremy Wright MP, secretary of state for culture, concerning the temporary export ban placed on a 350-year-old cabinet by Baroque artisan Giacomo Herman in the hope a buyer can be found to keep it in the UK (see ATG No 2388):

MADAM – In the ‘Glossary’ in ATG No 2583, a ‘white glove sale’ is defined as one in which all lots are sold.

MADAM – Having collected advertising for over 50 years, I recently sold this rare Gilbert Rae’s tinplate sign (below) which I always believed to be one of only a handful that still exist.

MADAM – I write in response to the letter by Simon Butt (ATG No 2386) titled 'Mystery Napoleon link' and requesting information on a soft paste pot pourri depicting Longwood House.

MADAM – I love the 5 Questions every week [in Dealers’ Diary] but you seem to be missing an important question recently: espresso martini or real ale?

MADAM – For the past 20-25 years I have been supplying table cruets and glass cruet bottles to the public by way of antique centres and directly to the trade via antique fairs.

MADAM – Inspired by the feature in ATG No 2384 about the little-known Girl-on-a-Horse English ceramic factory [also known as Compass factory], perhaps I could offer your readers another puzzle.

MADAM – It was good to see Clarice Cliff featured in ATG No 2383. As mentioned, the pottery has had its ups and downs over the years and in any case ‘Clarice’ has always been a little ‘Marmite’.

MADAM – I believe auction houses should make it clear to bidders that buyer’s premium has gone up and the fee does not include VAT.

MADAM – Having received issue No 2381 of your informative magazine, I discovered an advert for a forthcoming sale in March with two items I much desired.

MADAM – A definition in your glossary is incorrect (ATG No 2382). Strictly, the terms verso and recto apply to books, meaning the left and right pages. Certainly they don’t both apply ‘to the back of a picture’.