UK

In August Sotheby’s will open a new regional office near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, headed by Mark Newstead. The Staffordshire office will serve clients in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, as well as North Wales.

THE series of chunky Perspex and silver-plated table lighters made by Dunhill in the inter-war years are always welcome auction visitors. The majority depict aquatic subjects – they are sometimes called fish tank lighters – and usually sell in the £300-600 bracket so it was something of a surprise to see the example right offered at Dorking, auctioneers P.F. Windibank (10% buyer’s premium) sell at £2800 on May 24.

Coming up in London: Hidden for over 300 years behind the work of a pupil, this image of one of the world’s most celebrated painters at the age of 28 has only recently emerged from beneath layers of overpaint. This newly discovered Rembrandt self-portrait promises to be the highlight of this summer’s auction season in London and will be offered for sale at Sotheby’s on July 10.

THE long-suffering middle and lower ranges of the trade can take little solace from business patterns at the June fairs in London, the hub of the capital’s most intense dealing period. With a total of some 500 professional dealers exhibiting at the major fairs, it was those with the rarer, better quality stock who were making sales, despite high price tags.

Four police forces in the south of England are investigating a series of deceptions that have hit at least half a dozen dealers for high-value items. Thames Valley, Kent, Hertfordshire and Metropolitan Police are now convinced that what first looked like a series of isolated incidents is in fact part of a systematic con being perpetrated by three runners using a number of modus operandi.

In addition to the implementation of VAT on seller fees reported in last week’s issue, eBay will introduce a number of substantial price increases from July 1. Most likely to upset eBay users is the imposition of a 1% charge on items carrying reserves in excess of £100. Previously that fee was just a flat rate of £1.20.

WELL-known London dealer in all things quirky and decorative, Daniel Mankowitz, has just finished his stint at Olympia and returns to the Battersea gallery he has just opened at Studio F1, The Imperial Laundry, 71 Warriner Gardens, London SW11 4XW (Tel: 0207 498 0000).

INTEREST in modern design gathers apace and is reflected in the loan exhibition chosen for the first Antiques For Everyone – London fair, to be launched at Earls Court from August 14 to 17. The display showcases 1950s, ’60s and ’70s furniture and is mounted by Sevenoaks, Kent collector Michael Marks, who deals in modernist furniture as 20th Century Marks.

AFTER 32 years in business, Peter Heraty of Andwells Antiques, Hartley Witney, Hampshire, tells me that on June 28 he “will lock the door for the last time”, a couple of weeks before his 66th birthday.

MAYFAIR dealers in fine silver Marks have extensive showrooms at 49 Curzon Street, London W1 but you are just as likely to encounter Anthony Marks, who is head of the family firm, at swish fairs in Palm Beach, New York and, of course, London. Last week I caught up with him on preview day at Grosvenor House, where he made his debut last year, and he presented me with his latest catalogue, a glossy hardback selection of some of his current stock.

EXPECT around 45 dealers at Cooper Antiques Fairs’ popular Cheshire County Antiques Fair this weekend from June 20 to 22. This is Somerset-based organiser Sue Ede’s premier Northern fixture and is held three times a year at Arley Hall, near Knutsford.

AS AT London auctioneers’ themed events, nationalist bidding also underpins demand at sales in Ireland and Scotland. The Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) report having “lots of private buyers and underbidders” at their May 23 Fine Paintings sale, despite the quantity of material being down on the equivalent sale last year owing to the gathering period conciding with the war in Iraq.

POSTCARD collecting is believed to be second only to philately as the world’s most popular collecting hobby so here is early warning of what is guaranteed to be a very popular event, The Picture Postcard Show 2003 which will be held at the Royal Horticultural Halls, Westminster, London SW1 from August 27 to 30.

David Rogers Jones has sold a lot of Welsh dressers in his 44 years as an auctioneer in the principality but only two of this rare form incorporating a grandfather clock. Peculiar to the mid-Wales county of Merionethshire, the form, c.1810, is well-known in the reference books but this is the first the auctioneer has seen since he sold another 15-20 years ago. And it’s a great example.

To you and me it’s just a 1950s enamel station sign but to railwayana enthusiasts – and to Gloucestershire Worcestershire Railwayana Auctions who are currently selling it at their first private treaty auction – this is quite simply the most desirable ‘totem’ ever to come on the market. So what’s all the fuss about?

Waddesdon Manor, the French chateau-style house built for the Rothschild banking family near Aylesbury, lost a group of around 100 gold boxes and other precious objects from its world-famous collections following a break-in in the early hours of the morning of June 10.

The future of the Barbican Antiques Centre in Plymouth seems all but secure with the current manager of the 50-dealer shop eager to take over when the freehold of the building is sold.

The University of Central Lancashire is to offer a Master of Arts in antiques via the Internet. The new e-MA in antiques is intended for beginners who want to develop their interest in an area of antiques, pictures, and collectables, without the necessity of on-campus attendance.

Russian Works of Art: Alongside the sale of Russian paintings in their Bond Street rooms on May 21, Sotheby’s also followed on the next day with a sale of Russian works of art at their Olympia rooms.

WHEN he died tragically in a walking accident in Vermont last October, John Stewart Parry was still in full flow as a collector. A former advertising executive who lived in Gloucestershire, he began to buy antiques in the 1980s first for his home, Abnash House in Stroud, and then for an investment trust of which he was the primary advisor.