International

The Birmingham industrialist and designer Matthew Boulton was the toast of the Paris salerooms last week when this impressive ormolu-mounted fluorspar vase was sold at Drouot Richelieu for €170,000 (£121,430) plus premium.

Sotheby’s – who were outsold by Christie’s in Paris last year three to one – have announced a series of moves designed to reposition their Paris branch as “one of the pillars of the group’s global strategy”.

Scandinavian auction house Bukowskis have a new owner.

DETAILS have been released of the two new Middle East fairs at Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Organised by British company Turret Middle East Ltd, the fairs director is Fran Foster, who for a decade put together the Antiques For Everyone fairs at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.

THE spotlight turned onto the vintage wine market last week after reports emerged concerning the sale of fake bottles. Media speculation has followed the launch of an FBI investigation into whether sellers knowingly sold counterfeit wines for up to $100,000 a bottle despite doubts about their authenticity.

There are signs that many other member states are waking up to Britain’s warning of the threat of droit de suite, or the artists’ resale right, to the European art market.

A recent federal law, designed to preserve the integrity of United States medals and decorations, is creating chaos within the militaria collecting field.

THE FBI have arrested a retired lawyer who became involved in a £20m stolen art saga. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in jail.

BELGIAN art dealer Maximin Berko is the driving force behind the Shanghai Fine Jewellery and Art Fair which will be launched at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from October 13 to 21 this year.

NEW YORK’s fairs scene is in some turmoil following a massive rent hike at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the city’s chosen venue for art and antiques fairs.

A spectacular sleeper was awoken in Sweden on December 5 when an oil sketch catalogued as in the manner of Peter Paul Rubens sold to a British buyer at SEK16.6m (£1,298,000) amidst speculation it was by the artist himself.

Among the highlights of Sotheby’s New York’s $96.9m Important Old Master Paintings sale on January 25 was Portrait of Captain Robert Shore Milnes painted in 1771-72 by Joseph Wright of Derby.

Bonhams have announced the opening of a new office in Hong Kong and three sales slated for May at Asia World Expo, the new exhibition centre there.

Aynsley China has a history stretching back to 1775 when John Aynsley first started producing ceramics in Longton, Staffordshire. Its enduring reputation is for its bone china tablewares decorated with floral sprays or fruit in the manner of Royal Worcester, or for its commemorative pieces. They remain very affordable and even Aynsley’s well-painted cabinet plates featuring British landmarks usually cost less than £100.

LONDON-based specialist book auctioneers Bloomsbury Auctions enjoyed a successful inaugural sale in Rome on December 6 where a total of €801,000 (£545,000) was realised.

Christie’s confirmed their Paris dominance in 2006 by posting sales of €200.8m (£135m), up 74 per cent on the previous year.

THE British art trade has paid out over £1m since Droit de Suite came into force at the start of the year. Despite some initial bureaucratic difficulties, the Artists’ Resale Right appears to have been implemented more smoothly in Britain than in other European countries.

Illustrated by Denver Gillen, Robert L. May’s poem about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was first issued in 1939 as a give-away booklet for children by a Chicago department store, Montgomery Ward.

HOTELS, restaurants, insurance, security, shippers and packers, design and print, marketing and promotion. These are just some of the ancillary industries that benefit when the show comes to town.

Christie’s are to increase the number of European salerooms offering the Christie’s Live online bidding feature.