Art and antiques news from 2008

It was in 1908 that the American entrepreneur Charles Barnes convinced the British Columbia Development Association (BCDA), a London-based investment syndicate, to purchase 6000 acres of land to establish a farming community for British settlers next to the Thompson River.

Thieves deactivated an alarm before breaking through a roof and two doors to steal 92 items from the view of Hansons Auctions’ Old School Mackworth Saturday auction on March 27.

A DEALER has had to hand over £300,000 worth of paintings after a judge ruled that his records were not sufficient to show he had acquired them in good faith. He is also facing what is anticipated to be a six-figure bill for costs.

The 17.9m euro premium-inclusive total generated by Christie’s two-day sale of the ‘hidden’ collection of Charles Gillot in Paris last week may have wildly surpassed the auctioneers’ 5m euro predictions, but the performance of the 476-lot auction nonetheless ran pretty much along predicted lines.

It’s not just the London salerooms that are benefiting from the renewed enthusiasm for Russian works of art. The highlight of the sale conducted by David Lay of Penzance on February 28-29 was this late 19th century silver gilt and cloisonné enamel presentation vodka set.

Anthony d’Offay’s decision to sell his art collection to the nation for a fraction of its value has sparked a new programme of acquiring and exhibiting works by contemporary artists for the nation.

WHEN bidders turned up at the first Indian Premier League cricket player auction in Mumbai last month, it was an antiques auctioneer from England they found on the rostrum.

A FRAUDSTER has tricked a US auction house into handing over a valuable Japanese artwork by posing as the representative of the buyer, an English dealer. It is thought they targeted the piece after realising that it was worth a great deal more than it sold for.

THE International Association of Bookkeepers is running a touring programme of afternoon seminars to help with compliance on anti-money-laundering.

Spink are to put the unrivalled Victoria Cross collection of Lord Ashcroft on display in an 11-day exhibition in their main gallery in April. The exhibition is a forerunner to what is expected to become a permanent public display in two years’ time.

Two works by big league Impressionists dating from the early years of the movement are in the spotlight this spring.

A pre-War fire pump and trailer were among items stolen from a collector at Great Totham, near Maldon, Essex sometime between Monday, January 28 and Friday, February 8.

A DISTRICT court judge has dismissed a claim made against Holloway’s auctioneers regarding the condition report on an early wine bottle.

Eleys Auctions in Boston, Lincolnshire have sold by private treaty 43 personal effects of the legendary World War Two double-amputee pilot Douglas Bader.

POLICE are on the look-out for a man who has used cheques to obtain goods from antiques dealers in East Anglia.

Fine art insurance premiums for private collectors will not rise following the recent spate of high-value art thefts, despite speculation to the contrary, say industry experts.

ARTINSURE have secured an arrangement to act as specialist insurance product provider to the South African Antique Dealers’ Association.

Six works hooked off wall and reeled in through barred window

A highlight of Christie’s summer sale season in London will be their 350-lot sale of the collection of the late Hon Simon Sainsbury, scion of the famous retailing family.

Historic archive from engineer who moved Egyptian obelisk surfaces in Exeter