Organisations

COMPLEX bureaucracy and form filling are the biggest threat to small business – the backbone of the European art market – says Anthony Browne, chairman of the British Art Market Federation.

Members of the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers are being asked to vote by post this month on far-reaching proposals which could significantly change the nature and power base of the society.

THE RICS have announced details of their 2002 Fine Arts Conference, which will be held in Amsterdam from November 14-17. Highlights of the conference include a day at the Rijksmuseum prior to its renovation next year during which time its displays will be significantly reduced.

LAPADA are to launch an innovative scheme to attract new collectors at their Fine Art and Antiques Fair at the Commonwealth Institute, in London from October 9 to 13.

PAYPAL, the leading online payment service, are facing a new challenge that could scupper eBay’s attempt to take them over.

Christian Deydier, head of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires, sees lobbying for change as one of his most important roles. With help from his Vice-President Hervé Aaron, and Honorary President Philippe Kraemer, Deydier promises to “give it everything when it comes to lobbying… We must make the most of current favourable circumstances.”

The mysteries of the auction process will now be much easier to understand thanks to a new publication, A Guide to Buying and Selling at Auction, from RICS.

The Antiquarian Book Dealers Association have sent out a warning to dealers to be alert to a credit card scam that has already claimed more than $100,000 worth of items from the trade.

eBay have reported a record $266.3m turnover for the second quarter of the year ending June 30, a 47 per cent increase on the same period last year. Of this, $235.3m came from online transactions.

USA: Next week in an extraordinary single-lot auction – and the first joint sale between Sotheby’s.com and eBay, this 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coin is to be offered for sale by Sotheby’s and New York coin auctioneer Stack’s on behalf of the US government.

EBAY have struck a $1.5bn deal that will give them control of PayPal, the leading online payment service, by the end of the year.

The UK trade have their man at the helm of CINOA, the international federation of antique dealers associations, for the first time in 13 years. Henry Neville, chairman of Mallett, was elected president at the annual general assembly in Dublin at the end of June.

Bradbury’s Book of Hallmarks, revised edition 2002, published by the Sheffield Assay Office, Guardians Hall, 137 Portobello Road, Sheffield Sl 4DS. Tel: 0114 275 5111 Hardback £16 ISBN l872212026. Paperback ISBN 1872212034 £5.50

Helped by a £17.425m grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund – the largest sum it has ever given – the National Trust announced last week that it had bought Tyntesfield, a Victorian neo-gothic country house near Bristol.

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Sir Nicholas Goodison, chairman of the National Art Collections Fund (the Art Fund) since 1986, is to step down from the post at the end of the year.

Yahoo will close five of its auction sites in Europe and instead promote eBay’s competing auctions as part of an agreement the companies announced on last week.

eBay sellers dealing in collectables are getting lower prices and having fewer successful auctions than a year ago, according to a study by AuctionBytes.com. The results were similar to those found in a separate analysis by TIAS.com.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme, which improves the chances of archaeological objects found by members of the public being recorded properly, has secured ongoing funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

THE National Art Collections Fund has announced that it is tightening its rules on grant giving in a bid to prevent museums from inadvertently acquiring stolen art.