South-east England

WHILE £50m was finally raised in February to keep the Duke of Sutherland's Titian painting Diana and Actaeon in the UK, an attempt to raise a further £50m by 2012 for the Duke's Diana and Callisto is already underway.

THIS mysterious liveried Austin A40 Dinky van made for the Spanish company Omnisport sold for £6400 on the phone to a British collector at Wallis & Wallis in Lewes, East Sussex on June 8.

Toovey’s have announced an increase in their buyer’s premium to 22.5% plus VAT. They cite rising running costs as the chief cause for the increase, which comes into effect on June 16-19.

“Our product is sustainable, re-usable and re-saleable. We must all work to make people aware that antiques are green.” So says Beaconsfield dealer Nigel Worboys, who this week launches a campaign to change the public perception. Click Here to register your vote on the Antiques are Green logo.

DREWEATTS will sell the stock of Chevertons at the Donnington Priory salerooms on May 12.

BY the time sale day came around, Holloways of Banbury knew they had something special on their hands.

TRIBAL Art seems to one area bucking the credit crunch at present. Witness this superbly-patinated Shona hardwood headrest that was unearthed by South Down Auctioneers of Midhurst, West Sussex in a local home.

DMG Antiques Fairs say they have increased security following the theft of £80,000 worth of jewellery at their Ardingly fair on September 3.

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.

Surrey fine art auctioneers Ewbank are selling architectural stonework from the Palace of Westminster that dates from before the buildings were destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 1830s.

Two fine early 19th century clocks were among more than 100 mostly antique items stolen in Kingston upon Thames on October 10.

Edinburgh-based auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull have taken the decision to restructure their operation in the South of England. While the London office will continue as before, they have parted company with three members of staff.

Bonhams Oxford are to leave the city centre in favour of new premises in a village just north of the city.

MEDIA interest in the Pietro Psaier controversy saw members of the national press in attendance at John Nicholson’s Fernhurst rooms on September 24 for the sale of 235 artworks.

AROUND 200 valuable pieces of jewellery, silver, porcelain and furniture were stolen after thieves broke into an Oxfordshire manor house, using sledgehammers to break through two walls.

MORE than £80,000 worth of jewellery was stolen from the Ardingly Showground on Wednesday, September 3.

This large three-section glass panel was designed and made by Paul Jefferies at the Whitefriars factory in 1966.

Dreweatts are to begin holding sales again in Godalming, Surrey. The former Hamptons salerooms, acquired by The Fine Art Auction Group in 2005, have operated only as an origination and valuation office since January 2007 but will return to action on October 28 with a catalogue of silver and jewellery.

HENLEY Antiques Centre may close at the end of September if the Grade II Listed building in Reading Road is sold to Henley-based property developer Nicolas Piasecki for a sum thought to be in the region of £1m.

West Sussex auctioneers Worthing Auction Galleries and Scarborough Fine Art are no longer to merge.