Letters to the Editor

As reported on the front page of this week’s ATG, it appears the Ivory Act will, after much delay, soon be brought into force. This does not mean the fight for antiques is over; it means it has just begun.

I refer to the letter from Stephen Ferder printed in ATG No 2529 on the puzzle of the ‘two’ miniatures by William Wood (sold at auction on January 6 and reviewed in ATG No 2527).

Am I alone in being puzzled by the pair of William Wood miniatures sold at auction on January 6 and reviewed in ATG No 2527?

I’m wondering. Suppose you purchase an NFT artwork, and you store it on a laptop or some other portable device.

I wonder if any reader can identify the sitter of this work, below.

Re: ‘Fewer public gallery curators could mean a ‘tragic legacy’ of uncatalogued works’ (Letters, ATG No 2523).

Just want to thank you for your brilliant continued editions!

The article ‘Doing the bidding of the Amazon generation’ (ATG No 2524), stated that the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers (SOFAA) expects its members to produce a printed catalogue for specialist sales.

There is no argument that curators employed by public galleries perform an extremely important service way beyond their obvious role.

Re: ‘In-cider knowledge needed…’, Letters, ATG Nos 2519/21.

I do hope Dr Mike Wain has better luck than I did in finding out who painted his picture ('In-cider knowledge needed…', ATG No 2519).

In 2013 Antiques Trade Gazette was kind enough to print a letter from me in which I protested the practice of dealers and auctioneers of labelling as ‘suffragette’ any piece of jewellery that combined stones approximating to suffragette colours of purple, white and green.

I have just received ATG No 2516 wherein the old question of first edition and first impression is raised in the Letters section.

I have had this large unsigned painting in my collection for over 20 years, which is indistinctly titled 'The Cider Gatherers'.

I write in response to the appeal from Mark Berridge, archivist of Bude Castle (Letters, ATG No 2516), who asked for information about a portrait allegedly of Lady Sybil Edith Mary Nicholson (1880-1946), who lived in the castle from 1930.

I have been a collector of early old Sheffield plate of the first period, for more than 50 years, and continue to buy at online UK auctions. I am resident in France.

I would be grateful if any of your readers could possibly identify the sitter/artist of the attached image.

I wonder whether anyone can help in my quest. I am researching for a book on the history of The Castle here in Bude, Cornwall (built in 1830 by inventor, engineer and scientist Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, now a heritage centre).

I wonder if it could be explained to me why, in the currently fashionable world of ‘modern first editions’, there is a trend to link the words ‘first edition’ and ‘impression’ in the same sentence.

I understand that the Battersea antiques fair had to be ticketed this time to recoup monies lost to previous cancellations.