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INFORMATION on some of the valuable pieces of Sèvres porcelain stolen from Lord Gage’s Sussex stately home last month have now been released. The items taken from Firle Place are thought to be worth in the region as £1m and include a rare Sèvres Pompadour marbled ground vase from c.1761.

THE new owners of the Newark International Antiques and Collectors' Fair, International Antiques & Collectors' Fairs Ltd (IACF), have booked a series of TV adverts to promote the forthcoming fair.

DELOITTE, the leading accounting and business consulting firm, has recently turned its attention to the antique furniture market and concluded it is a good time to acquire a “proven asset at a low price”.

THE so-called Frog Service made by Wedgwood for Catherine the Great was one of the most prestigious creations by the Staffordshire entrepreneur and one that helped forge his international reputation.

GLASS collector Graham Cooley, auctioneer Will Farmer and glass specialist Andy McConnell have offered to spearhead a fundraising drive for a new home for the Broadfield House Glass Museum collection.

Scrimshaw, or carved bone and ivory, is very collectable, but the signature and scenes on this 7in (18cm) long whale’s tooth put it in a special league.

Christie’s have announced a premium-inclusive £1.2bn ($1.8bn) in sales for the first six months of 2009, down 35 per cent on the same period last year, when results were £1.8bn ($3.5bn).

Second quarter results for Sotheby’s in 2009 show operating revenues down almost half to $167.3m on the first three months of the year thanks largely to the decline in auction totals.

Bloomsbury Auctions are to increase their buyer’s premium from 20 to 22 per cent.

Dreweatts have stepped up their competition for London business by appointing James James-Crook as Director of Business Development, with immediate effect.

THREE weeks after cheque-bouncing dealer Tony Nowaosad vowed to settle his debt at Durrants Auction Rooms, he has still not done so, say the auctioneers.

This 113/4in (29cm) high slate sculpture titled Maquette for Large Sculpture: Four-Square (Four-Circle) was the first that Penzance auctioneer David Lay had offered for sale.

A MULTITUDE of intriguing items sprung up at Dreweatts' 250-year Anniversary sale at Donnington Priory on July 14-15.

OVER the past year, dealers have voiced fears that a proposed European Union Directive banning energy inefficient incandescent light bulbs could seriously damage the trade in antique lighting.

THIS intricate piece of turning and carving is by Binh Pho, widely regarded as the finest woodturner working in the world today. It will be just one of a number of lots created by the cream of the woodturning world being offered at a charity auction on August 7.

CHANGES to the hierarchy were on the agenda at the AGM of the British Antique Dealers’ Association on July 7, the most important being the appointment of Harrogate picture dealer Ian Walker as the new chairman of the association.

THE dealer who bounced a cheque at Durrants Auction Rooms, reported in last week's ATG has come forward to say it was a 'hiccup' and the bill will be paid.

THE busiest week of the year for Old Masters in London provided further signs that the top end of this market is surviving the downturn better than its modern counterparts.

A LENGTHY police investigation has led to the jailing of a retired solicitor, convicted on charges linked to money laundering and efforts to sell a stolen £500,000 painting.

IN his long career, Leslie Weller of Weller King in West Sussex has handled many varied and interesting commissions, but he now finds himself in a unique position, having been asked by a client in the north of England to find a new home for a complete collection of Arts and Crafts furniture.