UK

West Sussex auctioneers Worthing Auction Galleries and Scarborough Fine Art are to merge.

As of September 1, the Penkridge Salerooms come under new ownership.

A substantial reward is being offered for the return of a George III ormolu and white marble table clock by Matthew Boulton stolen from Knightsbridge dealership Hotspur on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 22.

The Frieze art fair (October 11-14) at Regents Park has already spawned two ‘tailgate’ events in the form of Scope and Zoo, but this year’s new addition is a little different.

JS Auctions are having to cease operations at their Cotefield Farm premises in Bodicote near Banbury.

Kent’s Canterbury Auction Galleries were one of the few salerooms to hold a good quality art and antiques sale in August.

Leyburn auctioneers Tennants have standardised their buyer’s premium rates across their sales.

A two-week exhibition of contemporary furniture featuring the work of some of the north of England’s top makers and designers is to be held at The Auction Centre in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, from August 21-31.

LOUISE Walker, who has been organising antiques fairs in Harrogate for the past 27 years, will launch a contemporary art fair in the North Yorkshire town next Easter.

THE antiques and collectors fairs at Alexandra Palace will not be returning following a breaking off in negotiations between the organisers and the venue’s new owners.

It was catalogued as Bow c.1760 but this English porcelain coffee cup seen at Bamfords of Derby on July 25 was identified as belonging to a much rarer class of porcelain associated with Charles Gouyn and a short-lived London concern in St James’s.

Bonhams have announced a major strengthening and enlargement of the ceramics department at their New Bond Street rooms with the immediate appointment of two former Sotheby’s specialists.

This unusual 18th century bookstand or tray top commode, measuring 2ft 4in (71cm) wide, made a multiple-estimate £20,000 (plus 17.5 per cent buyer’s premium) at Dukes of Dorchester on July 26.

Majority of auctioneers and dealers breath sigh of relief, but other were not so fortunate.

LONDON has gained ground in the global art market during 2007 with over $2.35bn in sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s for the first six months of the year. In their US rooms the two leading auctioneers took $2.6bn over the same period.

DESPITE the odd flooded cellar and car park, ATG are not aware of a single UK auctioneer in affected areas who will not be going ahead with their sales in the coming week.

Soon after marrying his young wife Jane, William Morris commissioned his friend Philip Webb to build them a house. The end result, completed in 1859, was Red House, named after its steep red-tiled roof.

After more than 50 years in the business, Worcestershire auctioneer Philip Laney is to close his firm and take up a consultancy post with chartered surveyors and land agents Doorbars.

This summer has seen a spate of sleepers awoken in provincial salerooms, but inevitably the one that grabbed the headlines in the national press was the tale of the rediscovered ‘Titian’.

PHILLIPS de Pury look to have taken another step to increase their influence as a major player in London’s contemporary art market by forming a new partnership with The Saatchi Gallery.