Opinion

Your article in ATG No 2576 speculates that London and the UK might lose their prominence if the major antiques fairs close down.

Re: recent letters highlighting the importance of printed catalogues.

First, regulation under the Anti Money Laundering (AML) Regime and now to follow, a government levy to pay for the privilege?

MADAM – ATG's report ‘Sotheby’s introduces new fee on top of the hammer price and buyer’s premium’ (News, ATG No 2454) will raise eyebrows.

There’s an age-old adage that wherever there’s a willing buyer and a willing seller, the two cannot be separated. But the current outbreak of the coronavirus has had more effect in creating distance between these two than anything experienced in modern times.

MADAM – I was browsing in an upmarket antiques centre in Oxfordshire recently and saw something very unfamiliar to me as a regular buyer from dealers in shops as well as at fairs.

BADA sent ATG this statement last week providing further details on the sale of a majority stake in its fair

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’.

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):

Fees charged by auctioneers, from buyer’s premium to condition reports, have been a hot topic in the pages of ATG and on social media recently. One reader contacted us regarding the move by a West Midlands auction house to charge winning bidders who have used the phone the same fee as online buyers.

Art market players reveal what is top of their to-do list in 2019.

The TEFAF decision to remove dealers from vetting at their shows has caused debate (ATG Nos 2367 & 2368). Here, silver dealer Alastair Dickenson writes to ATG giving his view, while we canvass opinion from four more experts.

The art and antiques trade have a love-hate relationship with television shows depicting their career choice.

At times, the UK art market can feel London-centric – particularly in a week when the capital plays host to 'Asian Art in London' and the city stakes its place alongside Hong Kong and New York as a world hub for the Asian art market.

The BBC’s decision to end the long-running Flog It! show after 17 years has been greeted with sadness by those involved and many viewers.

In an increasingly complex marketplace, how should auctioneers and dealers charge for their services?

Our story last week revealed that ivory elements of an important piece of Chippendale furniture, the Rowland Winn commode made c.1766, were removed for its appearance at a Christie’s auction earlier this year, the commode having been imported from the US.

The US-China trade war, previously the stuff of new technology, heavy industry and agribusiness, has now opened a new front: cultural heritage. The threat of a 25% tariff on imported Chinese art and antiques will soon be discussed in Washington, DC.

The general parameters of the government’s ivory ban, on the cards for years, are finally clear. As always with issues of CITES, the devil will be in the detail. Though the trade feels despondent in the face of the ban, a small concession on the currently very narrow 'de minimis' rule will make the ban a lot more manageable.

There tends to be two key narratives about the antiques business of interest to the mainstream media.