Plea to find missing 1698 Quare watch
A Daniel Quare pocket watch has gone missing in transit and its owner hopes the trade can help to locate it.
The gold pair cased pocket watch, with a signed gold champleve dial and verge escapement and hallmark for London 1698, was purchased at auction in Denmark and shipped to the UK. However, it went missing on its journey.
The shipper of the item has launched an investigation.
Owner Peter Hall said: “Due to the new customs regulations the parcel had to be labelled with the contents and value. With some delay it was delivered to me and appeared to be intact. But it was in fact empty, and on examination it was clear that the bottom of the package had been slit open and retaped with a different tape as used by the shipper.
“I believe that with delays awaiting customs clearance, and labels advertising the contents, this is likely to become a lot more common with the new EU Customs situation.”
Anyone with information can call 101 quoting the Dorset Police reference number 18-402 with crime number 55210043333 or cal l Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Four new faces at Ryedale saleroom
Ryedale Auctioneers in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, has appointed a new senior valuer and auctioneer and a trio of trainee valuers.
Jeremy Wood has joined as senior valuer and auctioneer. He has more than 40 years’ experience, having worked at Phillips and Bonhams in Leeds and with David Duggleby in Scarborough. He specialises in furniture, works of art and pictures.
The trainees are George Rowell, Harriot McClemont and Charlotte Trueman.
Dealer to hold auctions next door
Silverware and coin dealer Jon White plans to open a new auction house in Royal Wootton Bassett – next door to his antiques centre.
White, who also runs Britannia Coin Company, opened Old Bank Antiques in November 2019 and has around 25 cabinets for dealers selling jewellery, silver, coins, toys and collectables.
Jon White, who plans to open a new auction house in Royal Wootton Bassett.
The Co-op supermarket next door on the high street has become vacant and White is submitting plans to redevelop the building into a saleroom. He hopes it to open the 9000 sq ft space in 2022.
Latest Treasure figures revealed
The latest Treasure Annual Report and new information from the British Museum has revealed 96% of Treasure finds were found by metal-detectorists and many went to local museums. Covering finds made in 2018, it found that 1094 cases were reported Treasure in 2018, consisting of more than 20,906 individual artefacts. In total, 347 of these cases were acquired by 108 different museums.
‘Snailman’ from 1200- 1350 found in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, last year.
An overwhelming majority of these (93%) were acquired by museums local to the sites where objects were found.
Preliminary Treasure figures for more recent years are currently 1311 for 2019 and 1077 for 2020.
There are separate reports for the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and Treasure. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) administers the Treasure report (released on March 22, 2020, with 2018 data), which is usually a couple of years backdated due to the length of time that Treasure takes to be administered.
To coincide with the Treasure report released last week, the British Museum also announced recent Treasure finds of significance. These objects, which finders have a legal obligation to report, will now go through the Treasure process – among them is the silver-gilt ‘snailman’ mount (pictured) which Wakefield Museum hopes to acquire.
Lorry driver jailed over antiquities
A Bulgarian man has been jailed for two years after antiquities estimated to be worth more than £76,000 were found in his lorry by Border Force in Dover, Kent.
The items, including coins, pendants, brooches, statues and spearheads, were hidden inside a trailer driven by Dimitar Dimitrov and found by police on October 27 last year.
The 41-year-old, from Pazardzhik in Bulgaria, pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property. The investigation involved Kent Police with assistance from the Metropolitan Police Service’s specialist Art and Antiquities Unit and the Bulgarian authorities.
Most read
The most viewed stories for week March 18-24 on antiquestradegazette.com
1 $35 yard sale find stars in Asia Week New York
2 Gold ring fitting for a de Vere
3 Museums buy more Treasure finds as metal-detecting discoveries soar
4 Silver Vaults to remain but Koopman plans Mayfair move
5 Plea to help track down stolen Daniel Quare pocket watch
In Numbers
€2.75m
The difference in price between the two times Vincent van Gogh’s (1853-90) Scène de rue à Montmartre was offered at Sotheby’s Paris in less than an hour on March 25. It was initially knocked down at €14m to an online bidder but it was announced shortly after that, due to a ‘bidding error’, it would be reoffered at the end of sale. Second time round, it made €11.25m (£9.7m) on the phone.
Vincent van Gogh’s (1853-90) 'Scène de rue à Montmartre' that sold for €11.25m (£9.7m) at Sotheby’s Paris.
