UK

When Alex Butcher’s eye was drawn to this painting, right, he did not realise that part of the attraction might have been its familiarity.

With perfect timing in advance of the forthcoming biopic starring Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter, the lecture at this year’s AGM of the British Antique Furniture Restorer’s Association was entitled Beatrix Potter – A Pioneer in Regional Furniture Discovery.

London coin and stamp specialists Spink have been awarded an additional Royal Warrant for their services in philately.

Pictured right is a Yongzheng period (1723-1735) egg-yolk yellow ground ‘cranes’ bowl that was offered on the second day of a three-day sale conducted by Bamfords in Derby from September 13-15.

Places are still available for this October on the MA course in Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors, based at the Wallace Collection.

POLICE are warning antiques dealers to look out for the two men, pictured left, who they believe are professional thieves targeting antiques centres and shops.

HOARDINGS will shortly go up at London’s largest antiques market as Southwark Council announced that construction work for redeveloping Bermondsey market will begin before the end of the year.

Auctioneers in Essex are being asked to exercise extra vigilence after Colchester auctioneers Reeman Dansie had an unwelcome visitor return to their salerooms on August 9.

The well-known Worcestershire firm Andrew Grant are expected to close their fine art auction department.

Charles Hanson, formerly of Wintertons, launches his own auction business next month.

At first glance there’s nothing very exciting at all about this Prattware pot lid.

Lincolnshire auctioneers Golding Young established a new house record on August 10 when they sold this superb mahogany breakfront side cabinet right for £135,000 (plus 15 per cent buyer’s premium).

Wintertons are moving out of the Lichfield Auction Centre as part of a plan to join their property and livestock divisions under one roof in a new auction centre.

Personnel changes are afoot in the silver departments of two of London’s major auction houses.

The Scottish Executive is considering introducing a licensing scheme for the trade in non-domestic knives and banning the sale of swords. Both measures could impact heavily on the antique arms market.

The latest round of golf sales held up in Scotland threw up a now-familiar pattern of mixed results.

THE Saturday Portobello antiques market will not be disrupted by water board works as feared.

TWO lots stood out among the 600 lots offered at Hampshire. One was an 18th century matched pair of brass barrelled flintlock pistols signed Burnford, London, which, because of a missing ramrod and broken trigger mechanism were catalogued a/f but sold to a collector at a quadruple estimate £1600.

Longcases sell well after prices hit plateauTHE 530 lots offered at Dreweatt Neate’s Bristol rooms in June covered most areas of the antiques trade with the exception of ceramics, but the sale was always going to be dominated by the strong 44-lot clocks section.

Two very good stick barometers, in the popular 1820s form with bowfront and ebony-inlaid mahogany cases, were among the highlights at Grantham.