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In our continuing series looking through the keyhole of ‘bricks and mortar’ shops in 2017, ATG talks to Jonathan Menezes, who has owned Bow Windows Bookshop in partnership with Ric Latham since 2010.

MADAM – Following your recent article about Bill Neal’s Chinese mother of pearl gaming counter made for Queen Charlotte, I was touched to read Elizabeth Cannon’s letter in response and tribute to my late husband, David Howard (Letters, ATG Nos 2291 and 2293).

A trio of art dealers has chosen this summer’s revamped London Art Week to unveil new central London galleries.

Less than six months after they announced the discovery of an unpublished Leonardo drawing, the French auction house Tajan has revealed another major artistic discovery – a pair of paintings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) that last appeared in the late 18th century. Both the Leonardo and the Fragonards have been declared National Treasures by the French State.

Major dealers remain confident about the market for top-level English 18th century ceramics. At lower levels, however, the disappearance of so many dedicated collectors continues to take its toll.

Coming up trumps at Stamford auctioneers Batemans (20% buyer’s premium) on May 6 was a full pack of 52 Georgian playing cards.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Many of the most famous artists and designers of the Art Deco era were employed to decorate the interiors of the luxury liner SS Normandie, a virtual floating palace to that most glamorous of inter-war design movements.

Where do antiques fit into current interior design thinking? We took three decorators on a whistle-stop tour of Kensington Church Street to gather their views on trends in furnishing with antiques and dealing with dealers.

In an era when much-loved galleries and antiques shops are disappearing from UK high streets, it is reassuring to know that, in London at least, the art and antiques trade continues to congregate – and indeed thrive – in the areas it has made its own for half a century or more. Here’s a guide to the best-known London dealing quarters.

The grande dame of the UK summer fairs scene marks its 45th year in West Kensington

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period May 18-24, 2017. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

Seventy years ago, councils around the UK launched Pictures for Schools, a scheme to bring original works of art into the classroom.

Watercolours by the polar explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) were discovered among thousands of works from Stanley Studios in Chelsea.

The autograph sale held by Swann (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in New York on May 4 included a musical quotation in the hand of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the theme from the finale of his Orchestral Suite No.3 in G Major (Op.55), which sold for $14,000 (£10,855).

“It has to be accessible. We don’t want to over-egg it. Trying to make Old Masters ‘sexy’ is not going to happen. But there are ways to get people interested.”

A Boston museum has doubled its reward to $10m to find artworks stolen 25 years ago. This sum will be offered until December.

An age away from the controversy, skulduggery and sky-high prices that have too often characterised the antiquities market of late, the world of the quiet academic’s study came to the Macclesfield rooms of Adam Partridge (15% buyer’s premium) on April 6-7.

Even in the days of online catalogues, internet bidding and timed sales, the importance of bricks and mortar premises for an auction house can hardly be overstated.