Latest News Articles by Anne Crane
Butterflies signal a long life and a good price
05 February 2024Modestly guided at just £200-300, this tiny Qianlong period ruby-glazed teabowl and 4in (10.5cm) diameter saucer generated plenty of interest when it came up for sale at Elstob (25% buyer’s premium).
Auction house hails ‘incredibly busy and buoyant’ start to the new year
05 February 2024North Yorkshire saleroom starts 2024 with 2600 lots offered over two weeks in four auctions
French auction sales totals: A year of ‘expected stabilisation’ after bumper period
29 January 2024Auction firms in France followed a more traditional course in 2023 according to the latest figures.
Dublin auction offers single-owner collection of Chinese jewels made using bright blue feathers
29 January 2024The bright blue iridescent feathers of the kingfisher have been used to decorate objects and jewellery and items of personal adornment for over 2000 years in China, where the birds are also known as jade or jadeite birds.
Prime 18th century English porcelain on offer in Australia
29 January 2024When Australian auction house Artvisory offers the Robert Burke collection on February 19-20 in Melbourne it will launch around 300 lots of prime 18th century English porcelain onto the market.
Doll maker and fashion house come together to create a limited edition
22 January 2024As well as being an artist’s model and gallery owner who founded the museum dedicated to the work of the sculptor Aristide Maillol, Dina Vierny was also known as a collector of antique dolls.
Louis XV table returns home for public display after auction
15 January 2024A piece of furniture produced for the French king heads back to former repository now open to the public
Fair preview: BRAFA finds its feet at Brussels venue
15 January 2024The 69th edition of BRAFA, Belgium’s longstanding art and antiques fair, starts this month opening to the public on January 28 and continuing to February 4.
Claret with character thanks to a novelty jug
15 January 2024Figural novelty silver-mounted glass claret jugs are a favourite collectable and some of the most popular examples are fashioned as animals.
Clean sweep: group of gemellion hand-washing basins at five figures
15 January 2024Limoges is regarded as one of the most important centres in the world for fine enamelware.
Carved coral pendant created in a style typical of Trapani
15 January 2024Trapani in western Sicily has for centuries been renowned as a centre for objects mounted with carved coral, a tradition that derives from the nearby coral reefs and reached its height in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A corking vernacular selection on offer in South Yorkshire saleroom
15 January 2024A large collection of corkscrews and all things vernacular were major features of the two-day sale held by Wilkinson’s (20% buyer’s premium) in Doncaster.
Fragonard the fashionable choice at Paris auction
15 January 2024In one of the last auctions to take place at Drouot in 2023, a newly discovered portrait by Jean-Honoré Fragonard was pursued to €2.5m (£2.17m) at Boisgirard-Antonini (30% buyer’s premium).
Gallé rocks with rare glass vase at auction
15 January 2024Very much the highest price in a recent sale held by Beaussant Lefèvre (28% buyer’s premium) at Drouot was the €95,000 (£82,610) paid for a rare Gallé glass vase.
Grotesque proves attractive when it comes to Martinware
08 January 2024Latest ceramics sales demonstrate how Martinware demand has moved on beyond Wally Birds
Condiments of the season: mustard pots bonanza in the saleroom
02 January 2024Single-owner collection forms biggest dispersal of mustard pots at auction for many years
President of FAB Paris interview: ‘We have the disciplines, next we have to deepen some of them’
11 December 2023Louis de Bayser of the Paris drawings dealership Galerie de Bayser is the president of FAB Paris, the fair organised by Agence d’Événements Culturels (AEC), which also runs the Salon du Dessin.
FAB Paris makes a bigger splash
11 December 2023Second edition of the event involving two combined fairs benefits from extra space at new venue
Strike a little light on Tyneside
11 December 2023While mustard pots and caddy spoons made up much of the silver smallwork in Anderson & Garland’s (25% buyer’s premium) silver sale on November 28 (see ATG No 2619), it did also contain one notable example of a Dutch miniature.
All features great and small: Dutch silver miniatures dazzle
11 December 2023Small is considered beautiful in many sectors but increasingly so when it comes to collecting traditional antiques with space often at a premium.