South-east England

UK: AFTER 16 years of working at Dreweatt Neate to develop their ceramics department, Mark Law, the Berkshire auctioneers’ ceramics specialist, has left the partnership and has joined Andrew Hilton at the nearby Reading firm Special Auction Services.

UK: POOR old Neville Chamberlain. He always takes the blame for all but delivering up the British people to Adolf Hitler, when perhaps he should really be seen merely as one of those Edwardian throwbacks like Eden who believed, quite rightly, that there was no aspect of a fascist dictatorship which could threaten the lifestyle of the English upper classes.

UK: TO the businessman in late 18th century rural England, these porcelain tokens would only have been worth a couple of shillings each, but to bidders at Dreweatt Neate’s Banbury salerooms on March 29 their value was to be measured in thousands of pounds.

The Berkshire auctioneers Dreweatt Neate led the table of provincial auctioneers who were prepared to reveal their turnover for 1999.

UK: DESPITE suffering a devastating fire at his premises on March 25, Arundel dealer Spencer Swaffer is running his business as usual from his warehouse just three miles away.

UK: THE Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland and England has been well documented both in commercial salerooms and academic exhibitions, and indeed the value of work designed by the likes of William Morris and Robert Lorimar has never been more popular.<b

UK: INVESTIGATIONS by a Surrey antiques dealer have uncovered a crime spree by what appears to be a single gang right across the South East of England.

UK: EVERY so often a dealer will acquire an object of academic interest for relatively little money and put it into an auction to see how much it will make.

UK: POLICE are investigating the possibility that the same gang is behind a number of thefts from antique shops in Greater London and Surrey over the last few months.

The automatic passage of the Kent Bill through the House of Commons was halted last week when MPs raised objections prior to its second reading, following successful lobbying on behalf of the Trade.

UK: PLACES for the one-day conference on Internet Options for the Auctioneer at Southampton Institute on February 7 are almost fully booked, and organisers Drummond Read are already planning a follow-up event for next year.

UK: THE KENT County Council Bill, which seeks to impose rigorous controls on all trade in secondhand goods in the county, passed its third reading in the House of Lords on January 18, despite substantial opposition, both inside and outside the House.

UK: MALLAMS of Oxford have merged with Messengers of Bicester, bringing the two oldest firms of auctioneers in Oxfordshire together as of January 1.

UK: Come Burns Night on January 25, someone will be paying homage to the Scottish poet with more than haggis and a dram.

UK: SHOWN here is a solitary ivory button, which found itself highlighting Sotheby's closing event of 1999.

UK: THE William and Mary cabinet on stand which, because of cleaning and restoration went at £8500 at Ewbanks' Surrey sale on December 9.

UK: International bidders tuned into proceedings at Canterbury Auction Galleries on October 2, 1999 in the prospect of acquiring one of the earliest ship-to-shore receivers, illustrated right, manufactured in 1908 by the founding father of commercial radio communication – Guglielmo Marconi.

UK: CAMPAIGNERS want all dealers across the country to act now against the proposed Kent County Council Bill which could tie the trade up in red tape and discourage buyers.

UK: TWO from a set of five Chippendale mahogany dining chairs sold for £120,000 (plus 15 per cent premium) as part of the sale of objects from Hever Castle, Kent conducted ‘on the premises’ by Weller King on November 9.

UK: THIS pair of vases, 11in (28cm) high, from the sideboard of a house in Herstmonceux, East Sussex, set a new record for Moorcroft when they appeared at Gorringes Lewes on October 19.