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THE importance of exercising due diligence has been driven home in the most painful way for a dealer, whose oversight has cost them £12,000.

IN these days of global marketing and online bidding it is reassuring to know that, just occasionally, with some wit and a little good fortune, one can still make a good wage from a solitary find at the local auction room.

Right: this Morris & Co. tapestry titled Greenery sold for £180,000 (plus 17.5/10 per cent buyer’s premium) at Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull on April 21. The outstanding lot of the firm’s Decorative Arts sale was sold to a buyer from the London area, who said: “I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and just had to have it, it is a beautiful thing and worth every penny.”

THIS Saturday (May 1) Thomson Roddick & Medcalf will be selling the entire stock-in-trade of Edinburgh restorer and cabinetmaker William Trist at its Esbank saleroom.

THE international Asian art community descended upon New York in March to secure the most enticing exhibits in Manhattan’s two major Asian art fairs and numerous dealers’ shows. They were also there to contest the best quality Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Southeast Asian fare in Sotheby’s and Christie’s five specialist auctions that took place between March 23 and 25.

Though the catalogue did contain a selection of antiquarian and collectable books of a general nature, the March 31 sale held by Hampton & Littlewood of Exeter was notable for two specialised collections – the Ron Morris collection of magic lanterns, optical toys and related books and ephemera, and the collection of costume and fashion books formed by the late Janet Hill.

ONCE the rustic Cinderella of the antiques trade, but proving to have more solid staying power than some other fashions, the strength of the oak furniture market was evident at Brightwells' (15% buyer's premium) 139-lot single-owner Herefordshire outing on March 18.

THE importance of colour to collectors of saltglaze ceramics was emphasised at BBR's (10% buyer's premium) March 7 500-lot specialist sale near Barnsley when the orangey-brown hue and unusual subject matter made an Ugly Woman saltglazed inkwell one of the most desirable entries.

DEALERS are advised to check their vehicles before leaving showground fairs following a sophisticated robbery attempt at Sunbury Antiques Market.

The perennial and international popularity of the radially expanding dining table was underlined in South Africa when Stephan Welz & Co (in association with Sotheby’s) sold this William IV circular extending dining table by Johnstone, Jupe and Co for R950,000 (£84,820), plus 10 per cent premium, in Cape Town on March 30.

THE chances of finding good-quality tribal material in the remoter parts of Cumbria may be slim but a local vendor furnished Mitchells' (15% buyer's premium) 1294-lot March 4-5 outing with a 19th century African carved wooden headrest.

WHEN valuing a piece of furniture in the clutter of a client’s poorly lit home, quality can be difficult to gauge. Like most auction house specialists, James Lees, at Banbury-based Holloways (15% buyer’s premium) admits there have been times he has subsequently doubted his initial appraisals.

WHILE print devotees will be flocking to The London Original Print Fair (April 22-25) this week at the Royal Academy’s new space in Burlington Gardens, off Old Bond Street, it should not be forgotten that there are currently a number of other events celebrating the printmaker’s craft.

A CLUTCH of strong horological results for rare pieces by good makers or with technical innovations were seen in late March at Sotheby’s Bond Street (20/12% buyer’s premium).

THERE was an encouraging take-up for Victorian and Georgian furniture in Byrne's (15% buyer's premium) 623-lot March 10 outing, with buyers found for the more standard fare as well as for the better lots. “We had more than our fair share of Victorian mahogany triple wardrobes but most sold to a mixture of private buyers and the trade,” said Byrne’s specialist Adrian Byrne.

OSCAR Pierre Erard is one of the many shadowy figures who occupy the record books of the 19th century glass industry in Stourbridge.

It is not unusual for an auctioneer to receive enquiries from members of the public who have seen items ‘identical’ to theirs in a newspaper, a magazine or on television. In reality the Queen Anne walnut chest turns out to be a 1920s reproduction worth £100 – but, yes, they do look almost identical.

DEMAND for good-quality, period stools continues unabated and one led Mervyn Carey's (10% buyer's premium) February 25 506-lot Kent outing. A Queen Anne walnut example, with drop-in, upholstered seat and scrolled cabriole legs, it sold at £3200, while a slightly lesser quality George I walnut stool, also with cabriole legs, managed a winning £950.

LONDON’S art world leaders have come up with an initiative for extending the peak selling period that is London in June.

ON Friday April 2, this distinctive silver and 18 carat rose gold Boucheron lady’s minaudière, pictured right, 5 1/4in (13.5cm) across, was stolen from the Pullman Gallery at 14 King Street in St James’s.