London

A LONDON dealer has exposed the latest scam attempting to trick the trade out of thousands of pounds. And, in doing so, he has discovered a quick and simple way of checking whether others have already been defrauded: using the internet.

The Conservatives have vowed to fight Droit de Suite in their election manifesto. “Conservatives believe the Artist’s Resale Right will be highly detrimental to the British art market, and will benefit competitors outside the EU,” the manifesto reads.

EXPECT around 3000 original works from 45 UK dealers at the 10th annual Chelsea Art Fair, organised by Caroline Penman and held from April 21 to 24 at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London’s King’s Road SW3.

The London Coin Fair (Frances & Howard Simmons) took place on February 5. Of the three of these fairs each year this one is not expected to be the most active. This time the reverse applied.

Dreweatt Neate (Buyer's premium: 17.5 per cent)SOMETIMES one could be forgiven for thinking that the words ‘Oriental work of art sleeper’, as, for instance, ‘English middle order collapse’ don’t require spaces between them and that, German-style, they are all one word.

THE famous Bermondsey Square Antiques Market has traded in the square since 1948. This August, Southwark Council and developers Urban Catalyst will start work on the 18-month redevelopment of the square, during which it will be business as usual for the Friday antiques market. Or as near as possible given the immense upheaval for the traders.

HE HAS suffered a few knocks to his character in his 110-year history, but when Golly’s life began over a century ago, it was hard to find anything not to love about him.

LAW Fine Art could hardly have timed their latest sale better: a collection of Cotswolds Arts and Crafts with primary provenance by leading practitioners Barnsley, Gimson and Lethaby to be sold on April 5.

Running alongside the Italian Renaissance Galleries in the V&A are the museum’s three original refreshment rooms dating from the 1860s.

ATTEMPTS by Sotheby’s (20/12% buyer’s premium) to breathe new life into the traditional British picture market by creating the category of British & Edwardian Art met with mixed success on the afternoon of March 10.

2005 looks set to be a bumper year for single-owner sales organised by the London rooms.

The Fine Art Society unveiled the final part of its year-long makeover on Tuesday, March 14 when they opened their new lower gallery.

SPRING Olympia, held from March 1 to 6 at the West London exhibition centre, changed its name this year to Fine Art, Design & Antiques and, although around half of the 170 or so exhibitors had traditional antiques, the 20th century design and contemporary look dominated.

TRADE minister Lord Sainsbury has told the House of Commons culture committee that implementing Droit de Suite effectively and comparatively cheaply is now the big challenge facing the Government.

by Ian McKayLAST summer, when a large Biggles collection was put up for sale in Swindon, results were a little disappointing – at least for some of those titles offered individually, where some reserves proved too strong for collectors and trade alike – and around half of the 100 lots were bought in – but W.E. Johns’ famous creation certainly does not lack admirers and in a Bloomsbury Auctions sale of February, a much smaller group of Biggles books, mostly from one source, brought good prices.

NEWS too, of confident moves in the fine art trade. After a career in the London art world spanning some 45 years, Martin Summers has, just after his 66th birthday, set up his own gallery and dealership, Martin Summers Fine Art Ltd, at 54 Glebe Place in Chelsea.

FAMOUS West End department store Heal’s is the sponsor of the V&A’s major spring exhibition, International Arts and Crafts, which will be held at the museum in South Kensington from March 17 to 24.

A SURVEY has unveiled the hostility of antique dealers to the London Assembly’s bid to extend the congestion charge to Kensington and Chelsea.

The market for Clarice Cliff may not be the spirited beast it was five or six years ago when Christie’s South Kensington’s specialist sales could routinely expect to boast 80-90 per cent selling rates by lot.

IN February 1885, a 21ft long illuminated manuscript dating back to the 1320s was exhibited to the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries in London.It was described as “a very curious Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England” whose “chief point of interest is the artistic excellence of the figures”.