Art finance

UK: In a week when the Irish government was criticised by the European Central Bank for failing to control inflation, early Irish gold and silver soared to unprecedented heights in the UK salerooms.

A WEEK after ICollector announced a major online bidding deal with EBay, TIAS, the Houston-based Web mall claiming the largest “fixed price” source of antiques and collectables on the Internet, have withdrawn from a similar arrangement.

Modern ceramics in keen demand by collectors and dealers UK: A HIGH turnover of £500-1000 lots in Lawrences' auction of Antique Furniture and Effects on December 5, 6 and 7 contributed more to the £255,000 sale total than any individual high-value entries on a day when, unusually at a provincial sale, the strongest prices came for ceramics – British, Oriental and European – rather than for the furniture entries.

UK: FURNITURE and clocks made the running at the South Coast auctioneers’ final sale before Christmas, where local dealers were doing some last-minute shopping.

UK: ARTS Minister Alan Howarth has announced that the Government will pay £125,000 compensation to a family forced to sell a painting as they fled the Nazis.

EU: BRITAIN’S opponents on the droit de suite issue were in retreat last week with the emergence of telling evidence from France and Germany (the two main champions of artists’ resale rights) that the levy is both damaging to art markets and of little benefit to living artists.

THE International art auction market registered a 3.5 per cent increase for the year ending September 1, 1999, according to Art Sales Index figures.

UK: SINCE new Treasure Trove laws were introduced over a year ago the number of reported treasure finds has increased sevenfold, from 25 a year to 179.

SINGLE OWNER collections and strong selectivity are the key factors behind the 19 per cent sterling increase in Christie’s worldwide auction turnover for the first six months of 1999, say the auctioneers.

UK: BOND Street dealers Mallett have revealed a year on year 18 per cent fall in pre-tax profits for the first six months of 1999 to £2.68m.

FIRST half results for Sotheby’s parent company, Sotheby’s Holdings Inc, show a decline on last year although auction sales results have enjoyed a healthy increase.

FRANCE: THE FRENCH government’s apparent disregard for their art market, reflected by the repeated postponement of the auction reform (see above), was further illustrated by the dramatic last-minute cancellation of the sale of the contents of the former royal château at Randan in the Auvergne.

UK: THE VALUE of art and antiques imported into Britain from outside the EU last year came close to parity with exports for the first time since 1973, when the UK was last a net importer in this field. According to Customs & Excise records for 1998, exports of art and antiques rose slightly to £1318m, but imports were up by 52 per cent at £1316m.

UK: FIGURES released by the Heritage Lottery Fund show that despite the rapid decline in new grants being allocated for acquisitions by museums and galleries, existing allocations still account for a large percentage of capital spending.

UK: AFTER extensive coverage in the relevant media (not least the many column inches given over to the subject in the Antiques Trade Gazette), Minton majolica productions are a pretty well-known quantity in the salerooms today.

Did dropping datelines alter customers’ perceptions?

UK: TWO new major records in the past ten days are proof positive that provincial salerooms can still attract the very best quality amid all the talk of availability declining.

NOT a week goes by without yet another development in the fast-moving world of digital auctions.

Silver prices reached their highest level for a decade last week when dealers learned that the American billionaire investor Warren Buffet had bought 20 per cent of the world's total supply.