Obituaries (print edition)

It is with great sadness that I must report the death of Pamela Roberts on January 28, who for many years traded as Merlin Antiques.

Reuben Reubens, who has died after a long illness at the age of 80, was for many years a regular visitor to Portobello Road, both as a dealer and a collector.

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sad news of the death of Alastair Padley, formally of the Kent and Sussex Gold Refiners of Royal Tunbridge Wells.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of dealer and valuer Paul Quastel.

John Scott had a very distinguished career; his life was a whirlwind of enterprise. He was a well-known figure in the panorama of the Arts & Crafts movement and his personal collection was important.

We regret to announce the death of auctioneer Michael Baker, who died aged 84 on October 12 last year.

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my father, mentor and partner Wouter van Halm. He passed away peacefully just before Christmas, having been diagnosed with cancer just over a year previously.

It is with great sadness and shock that I have learned of the sudden death of Richard Brown, who traded as Country Oak Antiques from Yorkshire.

I knew Ian Norman (formerly of Porcelain Repairs) for over 35 years. He was a master craftsman of repairing antique porcelain.

The memorial service for Paul Barthaud will take place at St James’s Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL, on January 14, 2020, at 4pm.

David William Stoddart, trading as Black Ink Prints, passed away suddenly on November 20 aged 62. Much loved and sadly missed.

David Secrett began his working life apprenticed to a church organ-builder. After a spell as an RAF instrument-fitter and Russian linguist, he returned to organ-building and later moved to the workshops of the Science Museum in London.

Book dealer John Lawson joined EM Lawson & Co, the firm that his father had started at Sutton Coldfield in 1921, when he was demobbed from national service in the RAF in 1952.

A memorial service for Michael Bing will be held at St George’s Church, Hanover Square, on Monday, October 14, at 2.30pm.

Malcolm Davidson died recently at the age of 85. For many years he ran City Fine Arts in the heart of the financial district of London offering furniture and unusual items to those working in the Square Mile.

John Jesse died unexpectedly this month in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He was 83. He will be remembered and missed by many in the art trade.

Valuer Jane Anderson, who died in January this year, joined Berkhamsted Auction Rooms as a secretary in the early 1980s and quickly progressed to the role of manager and auctioneer. She was one of only a handful of women auctioneers in the 1980s.

John Smith, who died on February 24, was a well-known figure in the world of glass, contributing much to knowledge in this field and selling unusual and interesting glasses to museums and collectors all over the world. A Fellow of the Corning Museum of Glass from 2000, he had an international profile and vetted glass at the Maastricht fair in recent years.

Picture restorer Sydney (Syd) Bennett passed away on August 16, aged 86.

Sadly, Lawrence Block, the well-known London silver dealer, passed away in April on his 93rd birthday.