Newbury

THIS George IV rosewood, parcel gilt and gilt metal mounted drum table, in the manner of Morel and Seddon, c.1825 topped Dreweatts latest furniture sale at Donnington Priory with a bid of £40,000.

Special Auction Services (SAS), founded in 1991, is moving to larger premises in October. Currently based in Kennetholme, Midgham, near Reading they are relocating six miles away to New Greenham Park, Newbury.

INTERNATIONAL Antiques and Collectors’ Fairs (IACF) are to pilot a one-day Monday fair at Newbury Racecourse with two dates confirmed for this year of June 28 and August 2.

THIS rare Charles II clock by John Knibb of Oxford, c.1685, was recently found by the vendor when sorting through effects inherited from a family member around 50 years ago.

THE highlight of Dreweatts' January 13 furniture sale at Donnington Priory was a pair of monumental, late 19th century Italian, sculpted alabaster, twin-handled urns.

The falling stock markets that have dented the wealth of Russia’s rich have yet to impinge upon the appetite for the output of Karl Fabergé.

Auctions to centre on Nottingham, Bristol and Newbury as others become offices

In conjunction with the Nottingham-based sporting memorabilia specialists Trevor Vennett-Smith, Dreweatt Neate sold the Keith Crump Collection of Cricket Memorabilia at Donnington Priory on September 26.

LIVE bidding from ATG's online service the-saleroom.com got off to a smooth start on March 15 at Donnington Priory.

On March 15 Dreweatt Neate are pioneering a live auction online with a difference at their Donnington Priory salerooms near Newbury.

Establishing a new landmark for a picture lot sold at auction outside London, two portraits by Jean Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) took £900,000 at Dreweatt Neate’s Donnington Priory salerooms last week.

The tripod table is among the selection of Early Mahogany furniture that contributes to the ACC Antique Furniture Price Index. The sector recorded a 6% fall in 2005 – with tripod tables of routine quality dropping in price – but better examples of any form will buck the general trend.

The two best-selling pieces of furniture offered outside London in 2004 were sold during one of the very first and one of the last sales of the year.

IN September 1878, as it became clear that the Newbury Borough Fire Brigade was suffering from a lack of men and equipment, around 20 determined tradesmen decided to take matters into their own hands and to form a volunteer fire brigade. After some debate by the town’s Watch Committee, the auxiliary brigade won a majority approval.

FOLLOWING the Antiques Trade Gazette’s coverage of the sale of a micromosaic table signed by Michelangelo Barberi for £250,000 at Dreweatt Neate’s Donnington Priory rooms in January – still the highest price achieved for an item of furniture in a UK saleroom so far this year – the Newbury firm received a call from a gentleman in Scotland.

FOR 71 of his 84 years Harry Davis (1885-1969) worked as a decorator at the Royal Worcester factory, ultimately rising to the post of foreman painter. He painted a wide variety of subjects, but is best known for his sheep-decorated landscapes, all produced in the first quarter of the 20th century.

“ONE has to get sellers to be realistic and then things will sell,” commented Clive Stewart-Lockhart in the wake of the Donnington Priory sale conducted by Dreweatt Neate (15% buyer’s premium) on May 26.

EMMA was the leading lady in a May 19 sale held by Dreweatt Neate of Newbury, an 1816 first of Jane Austen’s novel selling at £6000. Catalogued as bound in both contemporary half red morocco and later boards, it retained the half title to Vol. III only and showed a little spotting and staining. It also bore the booklabels of Gilbert Bethune of Balfour.

THE Fine Art Auction Group are to adopt the Dreweatt Neate Fine Art name for their full network of regional salerooms. The move follows the addition of the Donnington Priory company to the group’s portfolio in November last year.

Few pieces of Victorian jewellery have survived in such sparkling condition as this Kashmir sapphire and diamond necklace which sold at Dreweatt Neate’s Donnington Priory saleroom near Newbury last week for £240,000 (plus 15/10% premium) – the highest ever price for jewellery at a provincial saleroom.