UK

Staged in the early days of the new year, The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair is a chance to do little personal shopping after a frantic season of gift buying.

An Adventure with Colman’s Mustard by British painter Arthur Wardle (1864-1949), shown below, is among the pictures on offer at Richard Green gallery’s 50 Paintings Under £50,000.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from December 18-January 17, 2018.

Thompson’s Gallery in Aldeburgh uses its annual Christmas exhibition to showcase works by historic artists such as John Maclauchlan Milne (1885-1957), whose oil on canvas The Hay Cole (1920), below, is offered for £6750.

Golden Age Dutch art topped the bill at Bonhams in the December 5 sale via a fresh-to-market still-life attributed to the 17th century painter Pieter Claesz (1597-1660), which sold for over four times the estimate at £130,000.

Combining results from the Albada collection and its evening sale, Christie’s achieved its highest evening total for a December Old Masters sale in London for seven years.

Dutch and Flemish art also dominated takings at Sotheby's in New Bond Street on December 5. The category was 90% sold and netted the lion’s share of the sale at £24.6m (with premium), against hopes of £16.8m-23.7m.

Russian literary firsts and related manuscripts were the focus of one of the many major sales held in the UK, Europe and the US at the year’s end.

On the market for the first time in at least 60 years, and in some cases for more than a century, a small collection of 17th and 18th century silver accounted for a fraction of the lots but 20% of the total at the two-day winter sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries (24% buyer’s premium).

“There are great fairs and brocantes in France but this is special, not least because of the venue.”

The bronze pieces produced by Rene Lalique are perhaps less well-known than the master’s jewellery and glass but seldom so under-rated that they are consigned to the dustbin, as was the case with this c.1910 hand mirror, below.

Though the organisation IACF is best known by its acronym, it’s hard to forget what the initials stand for. AA road signs guiding drivers into the Newark showground emphasise the word ‘international’ and the fair is known for its ability to attract overseas trade buyers.

Eclipsed in price by a £150,000 pearl (News, ATG No 2369), the c.1810 Swiss gold automaton pocket watch shown below was at least as eye-catching at the Roseberys (25% buyer’s premium) jewellery and watches auction on November 20.

Packed with job lots in many categories, the book section of a three-day antiques auction held at Mitchells (20% buyer’s premium) in the Cumbrian market town of Cockermouth heralded an intent to make such sales a regular feature.

Though IACF Newark markets itself firmly as a trade fair, it ensures the public has access too, in particular die-hard collectors who similar to trade buyers, know the dealers they want to visit.

“What’s the death on this snuff mull?” asks Tom Hurst, a dealer in African and Oceanic art attending Newark to buy for his online shop and in preparation for his first stand at Tribal Art London in 2019.