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Members of the trade had plenty to say this week - only some of it serious - in response to the government’s announcement of a general election. Others reacted to revolving doors at the major auction houses and the presence of top-quality pieces at provincial auction houses.

Aston Martins are associated with glamour and glitz. The car of James Bond. But the example coming up in a classic car auction in Essex on May 7 is more muck than mystique.

Ladybird books, or rather some of the artworks produced for the much-loved, original pocket-size books, are to be offered by Tennants of Leyburn in two auctions this year – the first on April 28 as part of a sale of books, maps, manuscripts and prints.

The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia has this year launched a programme of interior design talks to run during its 45th annual summer edition.

In Eccles near Manchester in the Sixties, artist Harold Riley enjoyed the food so much at an Italian restaurant he discovered that he gave the proprietor one of his paintings.

Constantin Brancusi’s (1867-1957) sculpture of a sleeping muse, widely acknowledged as a modern masterpiece, is to appear at auction for the first time at the Christie’s New York sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in May.

A late 18th century Rajput miniature with an excellent provenance is to be offered at auction next week at Mallams in Cheltenham.

“Remember the Alamo!” It was the battle cry that spurred the Texans on to victory during their 1836 revolution, recalling the sacrificial last stand of a few heroic men during a brutal siege by the Mexican Army.

The London jewellery dealership Wartski was in a sparkling mood but it was not their Fabergé and other antique gems that were the main attraction on this occasion.

Christie’s has wooed back its former US president only months after he joined rival Sotheby’s.

Boneshakers and Penny Farthings were the forerunners of the bicycle we know now but were hardly practical as everyday transport for the masses. Step (or pedal) forward the ‘safety bike’.

The recent Drawings Week event in Paris featured a slew of dedicated auctions across the French capital. They ranged from single-owner dedicated auctions of drawings by Edgar Degas and Antoine-Jean Gros to a huge variety of other works on paper spanning the Italian Renaissance to the 20th century.

The art and antiques industry took to social media to vent their frustrations and concerns after a snap general election was called by Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday.

A new auction record was set for modern British painter Sir Cedric Morris (1889-1982) at Chichester’s Henry Adams which hammered down the still life oil on canvas ‘Wild Flowers’ at £130,000.