News topics

Main stage at the design auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on May 30 is taken by jewellery designed by Josef Hoffmann, one of the leading lights of the Wiener Werkstätte.

I was consulted by an art dealer who bought a painting at auction which turned out to belong to someone other than the vendor. The painting went back to the true owner, the consignor to the auction was not worth suing, but did we have a case against the auctioneer?

MADAM – Michael Baggott’s recent letter about the potential adverse impact of the ivory sales ban on the display of ivory pieces by museums is, with respect, misguided.

Three modestly valued works at regional sales.

Axel Plambeck (b.1936) was CEO of a re-insurance company and in his spare time he collected vintage luggage and picnic sets.

Dog pictures with charisma, personality and plenty of naturalism are a driving force in the secondary market for canine art, judging by a recent string of buoyant prices in the regions.

North-west London’s Church Street is strengthening its events calendar and increasing the variety of dealers with a series of initiatives to attract customers.

A rare 18th century variable microscope by eminent instrument maker George Adams sold for £88,000 at specialist science and early technology auctioneer Flints (20% + VAT buyer’s premium).

One of the finest Victoria Cross medals awarded to a Canadian recipient will be staying in Canada thanks to a successf ul fundraising campaign.

The travelling compendium reached its apogee in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. Two exceptional examples appeared on the market in quick succession in recent days.

A good dose of sporting art is practically a prerequisite for any country house dispersal.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Numerous works of art in the spring sales at Van Ham in Cologne come from the extensive legacy of Friedrich Wilhelm Waffenschmidt (1925-2017), founder of one of Europe’s leading electronics retailers.

MADAM – The Public Monuments & Sculpture Association shares many of the concerns which have been expressed in your letters pages since the last statements from Defra on the ivory issue.

Among the silver from North Mymms Park lots offered at Sworders, a couple of 18th century classics, a c.1735 Scottish bullet teapot and a pair of John Cafe London 1775 table candlesticks, were eclipsed by the surprise success of a scantily catalogued Oriental teapot.

Fashion, photography and the art world’s most powerful women...

MADAM – I have been dealing in Oriental antiques for almost 50 years and have been a supporter of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) for most of this time.

Given the GlaxoSmithKline link, it was not a surprise to see four apothecaries’ cabinets among the contents of North Mymms Park sold at Sworders.

The stellar sporting entry to John Nicholson’s (24% buyer’s premium) sale in Haslemere on April 25 was an early oil by the prolific equine painter, John E Ferneley (1782-1860).

Richard Green takes full advantage of its two New Bond Street galleries this month with a pair of exhibitions, both focusing on 20th century painting.