Letters to the Editor

MADAM – I was most dismayed to read that Christie’s is withdrawing the archival service that has been available for so many decades (News Digest, ATG No 2474).

MADAM – I wonder if any of your readers can identify the mezzotint attached.

MADAM – Thank you to ATG for keeping us up to date with all the goings on in the antique, art and book world in 2020 while this dreadful virus has curtailed all our visits to antique fairs, book fairs etc.

MADAM – With regard to the mention of Gloria Cardew in the Lyon & Turnbull sale (Books and Works on Paper, ATG No 2474).

MADAM – When ARR was originally introduced we were told that since the UK was in the Common Market, we had to follow their rules.

MADAM – I was flattered to be mentioned in your Review of the Year 2020 (ATG No 2473). May I make a small correction?

MADAM – Your report on the export licence stop placed on the ivory and bronze Triqueti figure of Cleopatra indirectly highlights the tragically arbitrary nature of the Ivory Act (News Digest, ATG No 2474).

MADAM – Re: your article on the William De Morgan ‘Frightened Bird’ dish sold for £27,000 at Martel Maides (Pick of the Week, ATG No 2471).

MADAM – I read with interest your article about the ‘Bradwell chess piece’ (News, ATG No 2470, and Letters, ATG No 2472).

MADAM – Your comprehensive coverage of the recent Unesco debacle in last week’s issue (ATG No 2471) successfully raises ongoing concerns about the organisation’s behaviour and attitudes.

MADAM – I read ATG for my education: it’s always thought-provoking.

MADAM – The report on the George III gold pair cased pocket sold at Golding Young & Mawer on November 4 (ATG No 2468) contains various inaccuracies.

MADAM – The correct term for the ‘mirror’ under discussion in Letters, ATG No 2468 is an ‘embossed glass showcard’.

MADAM – In your feature on Works on Paper (ATG No 2468) you preview the sale at Bonhams of the draft manuscript for the account of the defence of Rorke’s Drift in 1879 by its commander John Chard.

MADAM – I was pleased to see that a piece of furniture designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for 78 Derngate, Northampton, had sold so well at auction early in November (front page, ATG No 2467).

MADAM – your item on the Victor Mee auction of pub memorabilia (ATG No 2467) contains a minor, yet possibly significant error.

MADAM – As a provincial auction house, we are more than happy to accept for sale many of those objects that have been rejected by the bigger auction companies. Furthermore, we are grateful for the occasional referral we receive from such auction companies, when items do not reach their value threshold.

MADAM – It was heartening to read that the premises of Aston’s Auctioneers and Valuers of Dudley (ATG No 2463) have been taken over by Special Auction Services (SAS) of Newbury, Berkshire.

MADAM – The pedants revolt! In ATG No 2463, writing about the Ministry Of Defence’s wristwatches, Roland Arkell states that the letters WWW on the back of their cases form an acronym; they do not.

MADAM – You recently featured me in your Dealers’ Diary (ATG No 2463) under Irving Street Antiques. I wish to correct a couple of errors in the article.