News

AFTER 31 years Caroline Penman has axed her original London fixture, the West London Antiques Fair, which has been held at Kensington Town Hall every January since 1976.

For the fourth year running, prices for standard pieces of antique furniture have fallen, according the Antique Collectors’ Club’s annual index. The figures for 2005 saw the Antique Furniture Index register a record fall of seven per cent to create the best buyers’ market for more than a decade.

ALONGSIDE, Tom Jones, Bruce Forsyth and the Ashes winning cricket team, the New Year’s honours list featured Richard Dennis.

AGAINST a flurry of publicity on the subject, online registry of stolen valuables Swift-Find.com has launched a new initiative to help identify and reclaim Nazi looted art.

The tripod table is among the selection of Early Mahogany furniture that contributes to the ACC Antique Furniture Price Index. The sector recorded a 6% fall in 2005 – with tripod tables of routine quality dropping in price – but better examples of any form will buck the general trend.

Christie’s will test the potentially lucrative waters of the Middle Eastern market in situ by holding an inaugural sale in Dubai this spring.

Next month the Royal Observatory, Greenwich will unveil four new galleries designed to tell the story of precision timekeeping.