News

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.

Lack of Americans hits top dealers. As American buyers stayed away, sales by 400 of Britain’s top art and antiques dealers fell by almost a tenth last year. This was one of the key findings of the fourteenth annual British Antique Dealers’ Association survey covering trading in 2001-02, completed by 58 per cent of members including well-known names such as Richard Green, Mallett and S.J. Phillips.

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.

A NEW association has been launched in Scotland in the hope of providing a united voice for dealers north of the border. The Scottish Antique & Fine Art Dealers Association is the brainchild of Sandra Patterson (the wife of an Ayrshire dealer) who hopes to address the unique challenges faced by Scottish dealers.

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.

Casting aside one of the last vestiges of the old Phillips, the former New York headquarters of the auction house has been sold. The saleroom located at 406 East 79th Street on Manhattan's East Side was acquired during Phillips’ expansion in the United States in the 1990s and was retained by the company when LVMH bought into Phillips in 1999 and when Simon de Pury and Daniella Luxembourg took majority control in 2002.