Letters to the Editor
ATG letter: Another UNESCO initiative, another series of bogus claims and statistics
04 December 2023UNESCO is at it again, launching an initiative linked to antiquities with a series of bogus statistics to justify it.
![ATG Letter](/media/88726/atg-letter.jpg?width=125&height=125&rmode=max&updated=02%2f07%2f2023+15%3a13%3a43)
ATG letter: Why should I stump up a four-figure deposit just to bid?
20 November 2023I am writing to share my recent experience attempting to bid in an auction. I completed the online registration and received an email from the auctioneer requesting additional verification (ID & utility bill), fair enough, and also a deposit of several thousand pounds.
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ATG letter: Eyes wide open in the Dodgson ‘innocent’ debate
20 November 2023The jury is still out, in respect of the sexuality, not to say the erotic urges, of the aesthetically inclined Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll), who – arguably, quite innocently – took numerous photographs of very young ladies, sometimes in the nude (the girls, that is).
ATG letter: Well done to Kempton fair organiser for taking dealer security seriously
06 November 2023Following on from my correspondence regarding security for the trade at markets earlier this summer (ATG No 2599), on a recent visit to Kempton I saw first hand that organisers Edward and Jenny Cruttenden have stepped right up to the mark and I would say are offering one of the most secure environments for traders in London and the south east and deserve much praise.
ATG letter Elizabethan goblet – a typo in the catalogue
30 October 2023I act for the Goldsmiths’ Company of the City of London and the Goldsmiths’ Hallmark Authentication Committee. Your article ‘Elizabethan goblet good to go after further examination’ page 4, ATG No 2612, is materially misleading. That arises from a typo in the auction catalogue.
![img_71-1.jpg](/media/97109/img_71-1.jpg?rxy=0.47991967871485941,0.3616&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133431307800000000)
ATG letter: The not-so-strange story of card maker Berry
30 October 2023Regarding Christopher Crellen’s carte de visite (Letters, ATG No 2615), the following might be of interest.
ATG letter: Beware of antiquities claims that cloud the true picture
23 October 2023Re: ‘More than $19m of antiquities have been returned to Italy following an investigation by New York authorities’, an ATG website story on October 17.
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ATG letter: What a strange sort of carte de visite
23 October 2023I own this rather macabre looking carte de visite, and wondered if ATG readers would enjoy the challenge of identifying its subject in the run-up to Halloween.
![img_71-1.jpg](/media/96256/img_71-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133411538990000000)
ATG letter: This rare set of prints I bought contained seven of the Canadian views, not five
09 October 2023Your article ‘Rare Canadiana in Sussex… and another Bobins’ (Books and Works On Paper, ATG No 2607, plus an online version) made one significant error in an otherwise excellent review.
ATG letter: This is a fantastic time to be in the books and booksellers industry
02 October 2023We were disappointed to read the article The Young Guard, published in ATG No 2609. After an hour-long interview discussing our experiences as young women in the beginning of our careers, we were taken aback by the published article’s seemingly disparaging portrayal of our narrow commentary around some of those experiences.
ATG letter: ‘Old white men’ is in itself an offensive term
25 September 2023At 59, I am not sure whether the ‘Young Guard’ at Forum Auctions (ATG No 2609) would count me as an old man, but like a great many of us in the British antiques trade, in books and otherwise, of course I am white.
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ATG letter: The Crystal Palace showcase was not unlike the Paris Salon
25 September 2023With regards to J Boyle of Co Kildare’s letter (‘Remember Crystal Palace 1900?’, ATG No 2609), the ‘Crystal Palace Picture Gallery’ was founded as an exhibition space in 1856, and during its heyday at Sydenham held an annual selling exhibition of many hundred modern paintings.
![img_75-1.jpg](/media/95509/img_75-1.jpg?rxy=0.29577464788732394,0.42898975109809662&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133395059420000000)
Letters: Coade comforting thoughts
18 September 2023It was very interesting to see your front page story about the Coade stone torchère and its acquisition by The Fitzwilliam Museum (ATG No 2608).
Letters: Woodwork is not from the Liberty ‘Tudor building’
18 September 2023In reply and hopefully to provide Alan Landis with some reassurance, the rescue of Liberty’s woodwork is a sign of their commitment to preserving its rich heritage (Letters, ATG No 2606).
Letter: Please keep interviewing collectors
11 September 2023I haven’t the slightest interest in political or royal commemorative ceramics (see Denzil Lush interview ATG 2607) but I find your interviews with collectors fascinating.
Letters: Horten sale – Where do we draw the line?
11 September 2023As widely reported in the media, Christie’s has bowed to pressure and cancelled the remaining sale of the spectacular jewellery, owned by the late Austrian art collector, Heidi Horten.
![img_67-2.jpg](/media/95281/img_67-2.jpg?rxy=0.46303501945525294,0.36197916666666669&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133388981400000000)
Letter: Remember Crystal Palace 1900?
11 September 2023I would be grateful if any reader could assist in the researching of a painting by providing information regarding the exhibits at the 'Autumn Exhibition of Modern Oil Paintings and Watercolour Drawings' held at the Crystal Palace in October 1900.
ATG letter: Yes, do listen to experts!
04 September 2023Sorry to hark back to this subject again – ivory – but what brought it to the fore again is an article in ATG No 2607 about British Museum items on eBay.
![img_63-1.jpg](/media/95026/img_63-1.jpg?rxy=0.55701754385964908,0.29304029304029305&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133382369200000000)
ATG letter: Keith Henderson ‘little book’ plea answered
04 September 2023I enjoyed reading David Lynd’s plea for help tracking down the elusive ‘little book’ mentioned by The Studio Magazine in 1919 (Letters, ATG No 2607).
![img_59-3.jpg](/media/94823/img_59-3.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133376888840000000)
Hewson & Forster: ‘the home of art in Sheffield’
28 August 2023In reply to Dirk De Nul’s enquiry about Hewson & Forster (Letters, ATG No 2606), Robert John Forster (1872-1928) moved from Newcastle to Sheffield in 1909 and joined William Hewson (b. c.1871) in the foundation of Hewson & Forster at 16 (they soon expanded into number 18 as well) Church Street, Sheffield.
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