Print Edition

In April dealers and auctioneers were warned to be vigilant about invoice scams on email after fraudsters appeared to have hacked accounts and intercepted invoices. Here one dealer makes a suggestion to help prevent such fraud.

Surrey auction firm Fryer & Brown Auctioneers is set to be struck off the UK company register after it ceased trading in January.

A Petworth dealer has been the victim of a £2200 ‘card not present’ debit card fraud.

Hans Christian Andersen did not confine himself to the fairy tales that are his principal and lasting legacy.

A French Old Master drawing, a 20th century work by a specialist animal painter and an American Abstract Expressionist work were among the pictures that have performed strongly in auctions across the German regions and in Austria recently.

A rare version of one of the most popular of Beswick farm figures, a shire horse in a piebald gloss finish, pulled its weight at The Auction Centre (16% buyer’s premium) in Runcorn on March 18.

In the debate about transparency of auctioneer fees, sparked by the Advertising Standards Authority December 2016 ruling that buyer's premium needs clearer promotion, the point of view of vendors needs to be heard too, three letter writers argue.

A large, late work by JMW Turner appears at Sotheby’s on July 5 with an estimate of £15-25m.

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

Someone else who has seen a gap in the market is Gaynor Lloyd. Her new antiques centre opened last month in Neath, seven miles north of Swansea.

A judge has ruled against a London gallery over the seizure by UK Border Force of a Chinese silver tea set containing a tiny quantity of elephant ivory.

Tangible mementos of the dark years of 1940-45 were offered at a St Peter Port sale held by Martel Maides (17.5% buyer’s premium) on March 15-16.

With the major names of the pioneers beyond the purses of most admirers of Cotswolds School furniture, works by Sir Gordon Russell are steady sellers and 16 pieces offered at Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) all found buyers on March 16.

Plans have been approved by Wakefield Council to create an antiques centre and café at the Grade II-listed court house in Pontefract.

In Kent, the Design Gallery’s largest-ever furniture warehouse sale, including a basement clear-out, takes place on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23.

Three articles recently published in ATG focused on the sale of a painting and in each case the key issue was authenticity. Here, lawyer Milton Silverman provides advice, including legal precedent, on how auctioneers can avoid disputes relating to authenticity as a result of misattribution.

This is an edited version of an open letter by Anthony Coleridge, chairman of Christie’s South Kensington (CSK) 1987-2001, to Christie’s owner François Pinault (see also news, ATG No 2287, for Christie’s response).

At the end of an article penned for the Regional History Society titled Furniture Terminology in Post-Medieval Middle Class Inventories, the late Victor Chinnery wrote that any full glossary on the subject should include, not just furniture, but also pottery, glass, metalwork and architectural fittings.

Fair organisers gear up for a busy weekend of antiques and collectables trading

With this year marking the centenary of the sculptor’s death, Auguste Rodin is much in the news. While the Grand Palais in Paris is marking the event with a major exhibition, Fraysse et Associés sold a 2ft 1in (64cm) high lifetime cast bronze figural group for €1.55m (£1.35m) at Drouot on March 22.