News

Black Forest Bear furniture is hugely popular and this late 19th/early 20th century stick stand in the form of a standing bear with outstretched arms, right, was one of the main attention grabbers at Clevedon Salerooms (15% buyer’s premium) on March 6.

LOOKING back on spring to see what green shoots of recovery might be discernible, a rather unexpected contender for the category turns out to be silver. Obviously, silver starts any recovery from a pretty low and long-standing trough but some of the results round the country certainly indicated that there was more than just auctioneers’ wishful thinking behind the optimistic comments.

HALLS of Shrewsbury will be taking a very active part in next month’s Asian Art Week, having turned up a 157-piece collection of netsuke in the Midlands.

PARIS expert Alain Weil must be a busy man as he was also the expert for Pierre Bergé & Associés general sale on April 3 that included a 76-lot section devoted to médailles artistique, to use the French expression.

THE SARS virus has caused a slump in the price of jewellers’ platinum as the Far Eastern jewellery trade effectively goes into quarantine. While silver seems stable and the price of gold has actually risen slightly, platinum has plummeted 39p per gram over the past week, from £10.04 to £9.65.

HAMPSHIRE dealers Millers Antiques offer a 20 per cent discount on all stock at their Open Weekend to be held at Netherbrook House, 86 Christchurch Road, Ringwood from May 9 to 12.

WORK has started on restoring the Victorian listed building occupied by Cumbria Auction Rooms, in Lowther Street, Carlisle to its former glory. H&H King, the Fine Art, Antiques and Furniture division of the H&H Group, will temporarily be conducting auctions from the old Furniture Hall at Borderway Mart, Rosehill, Carlisle, during the month-long first phase of refurbishment, due to end in the third week of May.