News

A Passion for Pottery... Further Selections from the Henry H. Weldon Collection by Peter Williams and Pat Halfpenny, published by Sotheby’s Publications ISBN 0962258865, £225, hb in slipcase (limited edition of 1500 copies).

UK: ILLUSTRATED here are two items used to decorate the covers of the sale catalogue issued for by Dominic Winter for their May 17 Sports sale.

FRANCE: THESE intricately patterned boxes in straw marquetry were offered by the Rouen dealers Hervieux & Motard for between £500-£1500 each at the recent Dijon Salon des Antiquaires (May 18-27).

UK: BOUND in red morocco gilt, this limited edition copy of Imperial Cricket, edited by P.F. [Plum] Warner and published in 1912, was sold by Rupert Toovey on May 23 for £360.

FRANCE: DIJON’S trio of auction firms like to cash in on the presence of antiques collectors at the Dijon fair (see Fairs Sales Analysis, "Dijon cuts the mustard") and one of the highlights at the Vregille-Bizoüard sale on May 20 was this pair of early 18th century Italian engraved rococo mirrors, 3ft 11in (1.20m) tall, that tripled estimate on Fr142,000 (£13,100).

SWITZERLAND: THE sale of Classical Greek coins held at Leu, Zurich (15 per cent buyer’s premium) on May 16 was billed as the finest at least since WWII. This was hardly modest, but it certainly was not far from the truth. The sale coins were culled from the best sales of exactly the last four decades. Not only this but the coins were invariably among the finest specimens available during this time and many of them had provenances going back a lot further.

THE Society of Fine Art Auctioneers celebrated its silver jubilee at the Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge last week, with chairman Chris Ewbank announcing a surge in membership.