Letters to the Editor

MADAM – As auctioneers, we are regularly in receipt of email images of items from hopeful vendors and we are, on most occasions, able to provide a reasonably workable estimate of value.

MADAM – I was greatly saddened to hear of the death of Reuben Reubens (Obituary, ATG No 2429) who was a customer of mine over the last 40 years.

MADAM – Reading about the unfortunate theft of a Handley & Moore bracket clock from the shop of Patrick Sandberg on Kensington Church Street on February 3 (ATG No 2429) reminded me of the clock (pictured below) that had sadly been stolen from my parents’ home in Burford, Oxfordshire, in 1984.

MADAM – I was browsing in an upmarket antiques centre in Oxfordshire recently and saw something very unfamiliar to me as a regular buyer from dealers in shops as well as at fairs.

MADAM – Regarding your Art Detective feature in ATG No 2426, I would note the following: the tight bodice does suggest a dating c.1740-50.

MADAM – On reading Andrew Hutchinson’s letter 'How charging a lot for packing could cost you much more in the long term' in ATG No 2426, we felt compelled to reply.

MADAM – I’ve just read your report about the record-breaking £1m sale of the 1937 ‘abdication’ sovereign (News Digest, ATG No 2426).

MADAM – In your article in Fairs & Markets, ATG No 2425, you stated that Enys House was near St Ives which is on the north coast.

MADAM – Re: Old Bank Antiques’ appeal for information about its ‘Swiss Scene’ (Letters, ATG No 2425).

MADAM – I am a regular user of various online sites that facilitate distant bidding. I have noticed a huge disparity between auction houses that recognise that the bigger the audience, the greater chance of higher prices for the lots on sale – and therefore the chance of increased buyer’s premium earnings – and those that seem to regard bidders using delivery services as a cash cow to be milked through ‘shipping costs’.

In the latest feature on mystery works the Art UK charity is seeking help to identify, we focus on a portrait of Anne Clive, the honourable Mrs George Sempill.

Follow-up on the mystery covered in ATG No 2422:

MADAM – we are appealing for information about the creator of a watercolour picture who we believe may have been a famous Suffragette.

MADAM – Having read the article ‘Job lots with specific draw’ on page 29 of ATG No 2422, I was a bit put out to read the description of the Clement Heaton-attributed tiles.

MADAM – I have long admired John Atkinson Grimshaw for his beautiful paintings.

MADAM – The report on the sale of a pair of riding boots formally owned by the Emperor Napoleon during his captivity on St Helena (ATG No 2421) brings to my mind a number of points.

MADAM – Regarding the recent correspondence in ATG about green packaging, and the overall renewed spotlight on sustainable art market businesses, I am responding with some practical advice and thoughts on the ‘bigger picture’.

MADAM – Can I correct the lazy and simply wrong English title translation for the German TV show, Bares für Rares (ATG No 2421) as ‘Cash for Trash’.

In preparation for the 25th anniversary of the Staffordshire Figure Association (SFA) in 2020, its 60 members worldwide are, for the first time, receiving a wall calendar.

MADAM – Regarding your recent letters about ‘green’ ways to pack art and antiques, here at Adrian Harrington Rare Books we have found a supplier of biodegradable bubble-style wrapping and foam pellets that are a ‘green’ solution for packaging books and sending them around the world.