UK

A REAL rarity was offered by Sussex saleroom Tooveys of Washington on July 15 when this toll pass from 1744 came up for sale. Beautifully preserved in the original shagreen slipcase, this pass would seem to apply particularly to roads that fell within royal estates or administration rather than to a wider system of turnpike and toll roads.

SOME 13 telephone bidders made their presence felt at a recent sale at Lawrences in Crewkerne, Somerset, as they turned out to compete for seven iconic 20th century prints by artists from the Grosvenor School of Art.

A COLLECTION of gold boxes that hadn’t seen the light of day for 200 years, a charming collection of novelty silver animals, a good quality spoon collection and plenty else in between all contributed to the highest total ever seen for a silver sale at Bonhams Bond Street on July 2.

SETTING an auction record for a golf medal, Willie Fernie's 1883 Open Championship winner's medal sold for £48,500 at the sale held by Maxwells of Wilmslow, Cheshire on July 15. In good condition and in its original box, the silver-gilt medal was won by Scotland’s four-times runner-up in his only Open victory at Musselburgh.

retail property investment company London & Associated Properties, have appealed against the rejection of their plans to redevelop King’s Road antiques centre Antiquarius.

LORD Ashcroft’s Victoria Cross collection – the largest in the world – is to go on public display following his £5m donation to the Imperial War Museum. The news comes as the museum has also received a donation from the Art Fund to purchase an important watercolur by Keith Vaughan (1912-1977) at auction.

ANTIQUES shops in the West End of London are being warned to watch out for a man who has been stealing valuable works of art using cloned credit cards.

HUNDREDS of Victorian gothic revival floor tiles removed as part of a £2m renovation of the church of St John Baptist, Cirencester, will be sold by Moore Allen & Innocent on Friday, July 25.

Woking, Surrey auctioneers Barbers are to sell musical instruments belonging to the late Nat Temple (1913-2008) on August 4.

THIS year’s Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors conference will be a two-day event running on Thursday and Friday, October 16 and 17, in south west London.

Consigned by a local private source, this late Louis XIV contre partie boulle commode c.1710 sold for £155,000 at Dreweatts in Nottingham on July 10.

A rediscovered painting by Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was the toast of the Old Master auction series in London last week. Missing for almost 200 years and presumed to have been destroyed, La Surprise was offered at Christie’s evening sale on July 8.

AT their Council meeting last week the British Antique Dealers Association decided on no further action regarding complaints by some members that well-known Kent dealer and fellow member Lennox Cato was fitted with a microphone while carrying out vetting duties at last month's Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair.

After working together for more than a year, Somerset auctioneers Lawrences and Greenslade Taylor Hunt have decided to bring their partnership to an end. It does not, however, signal the end of regular sales in Taunton.

Given that Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott (1865-1945) completed his education and first major commissions on the Isle of Man it is no surprise Manx country is the repository of much work by the Arts and Crafts pioneer. However, few pieces tell a story like the inlaid 'Baillie Scott' sideboard offered for sale by Douglas auctioneers Murrays (incorporating Chrystals) on June 27.

LONDON’S latest contemporary art sales saw vast sums of money continuing to be channelled into top-end post-War art as prices and confidence in the market remained high.

HOTSPUR and Jeremy, two of London’s long-established top antiques dealerships, are to cease trading later this year and hold a joint sale of their stock at Christie’s.

Is this the finest clock to be sold in England this year? The Isle of Wight auctioneers who will offer it for sale next month believe it is. It will be offered for sale by Island Auction Rooms (formerly Shanklin Auction Rooms) at their annual antiques sale timed to coincide with the influx of boating enthusiasts for Cowes Week on August 7.

A NUMBER of dealers are having to leave The Van Arcade in Portobello Road after the owners issued a two-month notice to quit.

If Bonhams' July 2 sale of 20th century British art is anything to go by, demand for the humorous art of Beryl Cook (1926-2008) has strengthened since she died in May.