Letters to the Editor

MADAM – Re: Old Bank Antiques’ appeal for information about its ‘Swiss Scene’ (Letters, ATG No 2425).

MADAM – I am a regular user of various online sites that facilitate distant bidding. I have noticed a huge disparity between auction houses that recognise that the bigger the audience, the greater chance of higher prices for the lots on sale – and therefore the chance of increased buyer’s premium earnings – and those that seem to regard bidders using delivery services as a cash cow to be milked through ‘shipping costs’.

MADAM – we are appealing for information about the creator of a watercolour picture who we believe may have been a famous Suffragette.

MADAM – I have long admired John Atkinson Grimshaw for his beautiful paintings.

MADAM – Having read the article ‘Job lots with specific draw’ on page 29 of ATG No 2422, I was a bit put out to read the description of the Clement Heaton-attributed tiles.

MADAM – The report on the sale of a pair of riding boots formally owned by the Emperor Napoleon during his captivity on St Helena (ATG No 2421) brings to my mind a number of points.

MADAM – Regarding the recent correspondence in ATG about green packaging, and the overall renewed spotlight on sustainable art market businesses, I am responding with some practical advice and thoughts on the ‘bigger picture’.

MADAM – Can I correct the lazy and simply wrong English title translation for the German TV show, Bares für Rares (ATG No 2421) as ‘Cash for Trash’.

Dealer and collector Keith Baker has been in a long-running dispute with his beloved dog Belle over who gets to read Antiques Trade Gazette first each Tuesday.

Reader Ray Heath has come up with a way to recycle his copies of ATG.

In preparation for the 25th anniversary of the Staffordshire Figure Association (SFA) in 2020, its 60 members worldwide are, for the first time, receiving a wall calendar.

An occasional feature on mystery works the Art UK charity is seeking help to identify.

MADAM – Regarding your recent letters about ‘green’ ways to pack art and antiques, here at Adrian Harrington Rare Books we have found a supplier of biodegradable bubble-style wrapping and foam pellets that are a ‘green’ solution for packaging books and sending them around the world.

MADAM – I was surprised by your editorial on 1stdibs last week and what it implies (News, ATG No 2419).

MADAM – Has that antique dealer in Surrey who asked about alternatives to bubble wrapping ever thought of using straw or scrunched-up newspaper, both of which are recyclable (Letters, ATG No 2420)?

MADAM – Like many antiques businesses, we sell small fragile objects (in our case, ceramics and glass) that require protective wrapping for safe transit, especially when we’re sending them by post or courier.

MADAM – Gerry Pearce’s letter (ATG No 2419) is in my view an example of double standards. He, of course, makes no mention of the innocent donor who almost certainly would have retained the £380,000 vase had he/ she been aware of the value and even maybe have sold it through Ewbank’s themselves!

MADAM – Sleepers and lucky antique finds make interesting and headline grabbing news stories.

MADAM – “The course of justice often prevents it” – Edward Counsel (1849-1939), Australian public servant and administrator

Businessman Nick Radclyffe and his family run Foxdenton, a producer of English fruit gin liqueurs and London dry gin, and can trace the family’s ownership of the Foxdenton Estate in Buckinghamshire back to the 14th century.