Dealer sells table to Temple Newsam
The dealer Godson and Coles of Fulham Road has just concluded the sale of a George II period brass-inlaid mahogany metamorphic reading/writing table to Temple Newsam House. The Leeds museum is renowned for its impressive collection of English furniture and scholarship in this field.
The 2ft 6in (76cm) wide table, bought at auction around a year ago, has an adjustable top which separates from the frieze when elevated and is set on a tripod base.
It is possibly by Thomas Potter (d.1782) a cabinetmaker recorded as working in High Holborn in 1737, as its form closely resembles a design on a trade sheet inscribed Potter London issued in the 1730s and now residing in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
National Gallery’s Pontormo deal off
THE sale of an important painting by Pontormo to the National Gallery in London has collapsed due to the fall in sterling’s value.
An export ban was placed on the 1530 painting Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap, which had been on loan to the National Gallery, after American hedge fund manager James Tomilson Hill bought the work for £30.6m.
The London gallery was awarded an unprecedented grant of £19m to help secure the work and managed to raise the remaining funds.
However, Hill now says that he will lose out on the deal to the tune of $10m (£8m) due to the drop in the pound since the agreement was made.
Meanwhile, an oil on paper The Virgin and Child with Saint Mary Magdalen and the Infant Saint John the Baptist, c.1535–40, by Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (called Parmigianino) has received an export bar from Culture Minister Matt Hancock.
A buyer who will match the asking price of £24.5m is being sought.
Fair launches e-commerce site
THE Affordable Art Fair has launched an e-commerce site – the first dealer portal to be officially linked with a fair.
The site will feature galleries from across the UK and is geared at reaching a new set of buyers.
It is one of a growing number of online art sales platforms with some having been launched in the past two years.
Most read
Here are the most clicked-on stories for week February 2-8 on antiquestradegazette.com
1 Sotheby’s and Weiss head to court in Frans Hals portrait dispute
2 Geneva art trade to crack down on money laundering
3 Dealer involved in $80m New York art forgery scandal sentenced
4 Windsor House Antiques targets first-time collectors
5 Rolls-Royces from different eras gear up for auctions
In Numbers
32.7%
The fall by value in total sales of Post-war and Contemporary art in New York and London, based on regular evening and day sales, according to the Global Art Market Outlook 2017 report by ArtTactic.
Cromwell Place gets green light
PLANS to create art galleries and premises for dealers in townhouses near the V&A were approved by Kensington and Chelsea Council on February 7, subject to planning obligations.
Art dealer John Martin is leading the project to redevelop the Grade II-listed terrace of five townhouses into art galleries and exhibition space. The scheme, called Cromwell Place, will include offices, viewing rooms, art storage and 16 exhibition spaces varying in size at up to 3000 square feet.
Applications for membership will be available in May and if it gets planning permission it hopes to open by 2019.
Modern focus for TEFAF New York
A STRING of major Modern and Contemporary art galleries have signed up for the spring edition of TEFAF New York.
Among the dealers taking a stand are White Cube, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Helly Namad Gallery and Acquavella Galleries.
