Art and antiques news from 2002

AT the end of this week the Gilbert Collection at Somerset House in London will unveil a new display of one of the most outstanding collections of silver.

Of all the western mining states, Arizona conceivably had the largest number of land scams. Companies with no intention of mining were set up only to collect money from investors. Arizona was an ideal place for scams, because it lacked a major transportation system and was subject to attack by neighbouring Apache tribes, so investors were less likely to visit their investments.

A WEEK ago it was announced that Oxfordshire dealer Edward Reilly-Collins of Hallidays was negotiating a deal to launch a new fair in Chicago with the US-based Stella Show Management.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme, which improves the chances of archaeological objects found by members of the public being recorded properly, has secured ongoing funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Over the years, car mascots have been used to advertise not merely the marque of the machine but also as good luck charms and were patriotic symbols during the First World War. In the mid-Sixties, car mascots were banned in the UK, being deemed a ‘danger to public safety’ because of the injuries they could cause in collisions. Since then, naturally, their collectabilty and value has steadily increased.

RESPONDING to the rise and rise of interest in 20th century design Le Salon du XXeme Siecle will be launched in Paris from June 6 to 9 at Le Carrousel du Louvre.

Jewellery and silver enthusiasts were catered for in Ireland as well as Wiltshire during April as private buyers flocked to O’Reilly’s (15 per cent buyer’s premium) sale of gemstones and silver in Dublin on April 10.

This gold pair-cased pocket watch was brought into the offices of Charterhouse auctioneers of Sherborne, Dorset in a plastic carrier bag – albeit a Harrods bag – by a vendor who had kept it in his sock drawer for many years.

AS a regular exhibitor at that most traditional of fairs, the Chelsea Antiques Fair, and after enjoying a most successful debut at New York’s Winter Antiques Show earlier this year, there is no doubt that European folk art specialist Robert Young is very much an antique dealer.

As well as Christie’s main Islamic arts sale at King St, there was a larger 427 lot event covering the same general areas at middle-ranking level in their South Kensington (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) rooms on April 25.

SHOWING at the V&A until June 9 is ‘Milan in a Van’, the pick of some of the best work at the Milan Furniture Fair, one of the world’s top design trade fairs which was held from April 10 to 15.

After trading for only six months, Fieldings Auctioneers, based in Stourbridge, West Midlands have won a regional business award. They were nominated by the Black Country Chamber of Commerce for the Best New Business, Service Sector in their first annual New Business Awards (2001-2002).

Although all the other sales that used to be held at Sotheby’s Billingshurst have now moved to their Olympia rooms*, the one notable exception is their twice-yearly auctions of garden statuary and architectural items. These continue to be held in West Sussex where they can benefit from Billingshurst’s location for a stylish viewing in their country house grounds.

This unusual looking piece from Ottoman Turkey, pictured right, provided one of the highlights of Bonhams’ Islamic sale on April 24 when it sold for £40,000.

THE Dutch Ambassador welcomed British and Dutch dealers to a reception at the London embassy on April 24 to celebrate the signing of a formal agreement between two leading trade associations.

Oriental art dealer Christian Deydier has been voted in as the new president of the France’s Syndicat National des Antiquaires (National Dealers’ Association) in Paris, defeating book dealer Claude Blaizot by 10 votes to 6. Outgoing president Dominique Chevalier, recently injured in a motorcycle accident, did not stand for re-election.

Former Sotheby’s chief executive Diana ‘Dede’ Brooks was sentenced to six months ‘home detention’ last Monday after pleading guilty to fixing commissions for vendors with Christie’s between 1993 and 1999.

THE National Art Collections Fund has announced that it is tightening its rules on grant giving in a bid to prevent museums from inadvertently acquiring stolen art.

A FORMER Cambridge University student who plundered priceless historical book collections, stealing works valued at over £1m, has been jailed for four years.

Three Lincolnshire auctioneers are setting aside their competitive differences and collaborating on a week-long series of sales in the county.