London

THE first slice of the Longridge collection of early British pottery and European vernacular works of art, formed over 30 years by American Syd Levethan, was sold in two sessions for £2.93m by Christie's in King Street on June 10-11.

THE latest Russian art sales in the capital saw the continuing recovery of an important sector for London’s auctioneers. The market may lack the free spending seen before the downturn in October 2008 but the June sales were significantly up on the equivalent series last year.

This jewelled and gold mounted hardstone model of a turkey by Fabergé was among the highlights of Christie's Russian art sale in London on June 8.

A TOPICAL July release from the Antique Collectors' Club (ACC) publishing group is Portobello Road, a collection of previously unpublished photographs of the famous market taken over three years in the early 1960s by photographer John Petty.

SETTING the highest price ever seen at auction for Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959), this lifesize sculpture of a mother and child, overshot its £60,000-80,000 estimate at Sotheby's latest sale of Modern British art in London before being knocked down to a private buyer at £120,000.

AFTER being closed since early March, The Good Fairy Market in Portobello Road reopened on May 8, to the surprise of some dealers at the Saturday market.

CONSIDERED the finest work by the Italian Baroque master Domenico Zampieri, Il Domenichino (1581-1641), in private hands, this painting of St John the Evangelist has been saved for the nation. It has gone on display in the National Gallery's Baroque rooms.

LAST week's letter from the deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Councillor Daniel Moylan, (click here to read letter) replying to my commentary on the Portobello planning dispute in ATG No 1937, took me to task for swallowing 'uncritically the claims being made about the council' with regards to Portobello Road, 'almost as if he is unaware that there are elections on and that Portobello lies at the heart of a ward being bitterly contested by Labour and the Lib Dems'.

THIS letter from the Deputy Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council Daniel Moylan appeared in ATG issue no. 1939, May 8.

THE first Victoria Cross awarded to a soldier in the British Army sold for £210,000 (plus 20 per cent buyer's premium) at Spink in London on April 22. The Conservative Party donor and VC collector Lord Ashcroft was beaten to the prize by an anonymous buyer.

LONDON dealers Wartski are holding a loan exhibition at their Grafton Street Gallery from May 11-21 titled The King's Blood: Relics of King Charles I.

POLICE want to speak to this man, pictured right, in connection with a scam that has taken in several of London’s West End dealers.

A NEW auction record has been set for any painting by a Scottish Colourist after Tulips by Samuel John Peploe (1871-1935) sold for £520,000 at Sotheby's.

It was in October 2007 that I was personally able to break the news to Costas Kleanthous that Kensington and Chelsea Council had decided to effectively create an enclave in Portobello for small shops which could act as a blueprint for other shopping and tourist destinations across Britain.

THE people of Portobello cheered at Kensington and Chelsea town hall as their local councillor demanded an investigation into “what could prove an absolute scandal” concerning the development site that now houses the local All Saints store.

John Parry’s collection of early English furniture and works of art had not been long in the making.

THE classical horse head with powerful Art Deco styling is among the best known of all the 28 different René Lalique glass car mascots.

THE organisers of London's new luxury fair Masterpiece are closing their books this week for the 2010 launch, satisfied with having reached their target of around 100 exhibitors.

MANY people are content to put together one major collection in their lifetime. To assemble one, disperse it at a major saleroom, set about doing the same thing all over again and then hold a second auction within the space of just over a decade takes some doing.

A SPECIALIST conservation event will take place at the Royal Asiatic Society on April 13.