Print Edition

The biannual National Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair at the Redditch Sports Centre in Redditch on Sunday, May 14, which has been fully booked for months, is the last to be held at this venue in its 13 years of existence, as the centre is closing.

MADAM – Rejoice, rejoice. Another elephant has been saved from slaughter for its tusks by the prompt removal of an unworked ivory gong from a profit-earning display at Sandringham (ATG No 2290).

Symbols of good fortune and longevity in both China and Japan, cranes cast in bronze with incised decoration were simply catalogued as oriental at the April 10 sale held by Edinburgh auction house Thomson Roddick (16% buyer’s premium).

A painting of St Tropez by the Fauvist painter Charles Camoin (1879-1965) went under the hammer for the first time in more than half a century at Gildings (15% buyer’s premium).

“We were somewhere around Barstow when the drugs began to take hold” are the opening words of Hunter S Thompson’s notorious and loosely autobiographical novel Fear and Loathing Las Vegas…

Reversing the usual pattern where it is an author’s first book that makes the big money, it is the last of the 38 books featuring Richmal Crompton’s most famous children’s book creation that has for many years been one of the most expensive purchases for collectors.

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

Francis Picabia (1879-1953) famously declared that he wanted to change his ideas “as often as one would change one’s shirt”, and he embraced many different artistic styles throughout his life.

News as reported from the ATG Archive...

Not so much in demand as they once were, Royal Doulton figurines still have their devoted following, particularly when they are rarities such as the Lady Jester (HN1222) piece offered at Michael J Bowman (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Chudleigh on March 25.

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

English and Continental Antiques, the Suffolk dealership, has its second selling exhibition of 2017 on May 27.

Austrian saleroom im Kinsky has hit out at the “biased reporting” and “aggressive reaction” to its decision to offer a Nazi-looted painting at auction. With heightened media coverage about the consignment, the portrait of a Dutch merchant by Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670) was eventually withdrawn shortly before it was due to be offered in Vienna at the end of last month.

Overshadowed by the boom in Chinese works and contemporary art they may have been, but the rise in demand for British studio ceramics has been the talk of the market these last few years.

Brexit, rising inflation and now the distraction of a snap general election has left a feeling in the picture trade that the good start to the year may begin to fade.

Karl & Faber in Munich is offering 'Portrait of a Man, Holding a Carnation', a 16 x 11in (41 x 29cm) panel, attributed to Dirck Jacobsz (before 1497-1567) at its auction on May 19.

More than 130 original artworks by the artist, sometimes savage political cartoonist and stage designer, Gerald Scarfe, were offered by Sotheby’s (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) on April 5.

If you are interested in Chinese mother-of-pearl gaming counters then it’s a pretty good bet that the name Bill Neal will also come up.

In the continuing series looking through the keyhole of ‘bricks and mortar’ shops in 2017, ATG talks to Stuart Watson who runs St. Reatham Antiques.

Fancy a free valuation? Asian art specialist Jonathan Tucker is doing free valuations in return for a donation to his chosen charity ahead of a Mongolian expedition.