London

DEALERS at Grays antiques centre in Central London were left devastated earlier this month at the news that the hoardings for the Crossrail project at Bond Street station are likely to remain in place immediately outside the premises for at least three years.

Planning issues affecting the future of antique trading in Portobello came to a head last week as councillors and their own planning officers fell out at a public meeting in front of dozens of campaigners.

SILVER dealer Daniel Bexfield has launched a campaign to prevent developers revamping Burlington Arcade off London’s Piccadilly and getting rid of small independent traders in favour of major luxury brands.

A LONG-running anti-trust complaint against the Andy Warhol Foundation – one that caused them to close the authentication service – concerned a work denied twice by their board.

LONDON’S Frieze week opened with more cautious buying this year as concerns about the impact of the current economic turbulence in Europe and the US were much in evidence.

YOU get the impression that the Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair does not take itself too seriously – the opening page of the website bears the famous Groucho Marx quotation: "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

SLIGHTLY nervy might best describe mood in the opening days of the two big fairs in town last week.

CHANGES in parking regulations in the West End of London have forced Jenny Glanville of KM Fairs to shelve her monthly antiques fair at the Park Lane Hotel on Piccadilly – the fixture started by her mother Kate Marlowe 35 years ago.

As ever, there was a large amount of Doulton Lambeth on offer at Bonhams’ latest Ceramics Design sale.

THE famous caricature birds crown the top of the tree for Martinware collectors. This is still a strong market where, feels Bonhams’ specialist Mark Oliver, a really top-calibre model could command £40,000 if it came on the market.

STITCH holes in a volume held by a Polish museum have added a new layer of evidence in establishing a disputed drawing as an important work by Leonardo da Vinci.

ON a sparkling evening at Sotheby’s in Bond Street last Thursday, Henry Wyndham presided over a charity auction in aid of the Company of Arts Scholars, Dealers and Collectors’ charity fund, raising over £60,000 to support the education of young people seeking careers in all areas of the decorative arts from dealing and auctioneering to museums and galleries.

THE largest 'Conjuring' sale seen in London for some time, at Bloomsbury Auctions on September 8, had at its core the 460-lot collection of the late Bob Read, a 'Close-Up Entertainer' and lecturer in the UK and USA who was a tireless researcher into the history of magic and conjuring.

THE 87th London Antique Arms Fair, from September 23 to 24, has had to change venue because of essential maintenance work on the intended venue, the Ibis Hotel in Earls Court.

THERE is less than a year to go before the Olympic Games return to Britain for the third time and, rest assured, a number of themed auction sales are already in the pipeline.

FOLLOWING the recent report about cheque fraud in July on Portobello Road and Westbourne Grove, additional incidents have emerged of suspected fraud around London using cheques under the account name GC Commodity’s (sic).

DURING the early hours of Tuesday, August 16, the Antique Textiles Company in Hampstead was vandalised – the victim of what is thought to be a revenge attack.

THE Crossrail saga rumbles on for the dealers at Grays antiques centre in Mayfair.

IN yet another change to the London summer fairs scene, Haughton International Fairs have announced that Art Antiques London next year will run over the later dates of June 13 to 20.

THE National Gallery has confirmed that a previously unattributed painting spotted by an American dealer will feature in its forthcoming Leonardo da Vinci exhibition as an original work by the artist.