More Drama at Partridge (antiquesnews.co.uk)

 

As reported in The Daily Telegraph and The Independent newspapers on 20 December 2009: Former Conservative cabinet minister David Mellor, as part of the consortium which bought Patridge Fine Arts four years ago, has issued a writ alleging “systematic fraud and counterfeiting” over many years at the prestigious antiques dealership once known as The Palace of the Arts. The allegations are likely to touch upon some of the best-known museums and collectors of the art world who have been clients of the prestigious antiques dealership.

In allegations denied by members of the Partridge family, Mr Mellor, once heritage secretary under the Conservatives, will claim Partridge Fine Arts deliberately misled clients about the history, provenance and state of antique furniture it sold. His lawyers will claim that the fraudulent misrepresentation seriously undermined the value of the company Mr Mellor bought as part of a consortium of investors, and that he and his business partners are therefore not liable for the final payment thought to be up to £1.3 million due in December 2009.

The Partridge family, who issued their own writ last week over the refusal by Mellor and other members of the consortium to pay shareholders the final £1.3m due under the terms of the staged purchase they began in December 2005. At that time the Partridge family agreed to sell control of the company to Amor Holdings, the investment vehicle of Mark Law, for about £14 million. Partridge Fine Arts left its Bond Street premises in autumn 2009 after being forced into administration in July. Andrew Stoneman and Matt Bond, partners in MCR, were appointed joint administrators. Andrew Stoneman cited that the tough economic climate was likely to be the main reason for the group’s downfall.

Weather affects Fairs (Antique News Website).

WEATHER: ARDINGLY TO GO AHEAD, SWINDERBY CANCELLED

08 January 2010: Despite some of the coldest weather being forecast over the coming days IACF Ltd have confirmed that the Ardingly fair is to continue as planned at the South of England Showground 12-13 January. With 4 permanent halls and almost 400 stalls already booked there will be plenty of treasures on offer but with no permanent halls and the long term forecast predicting the coldest winter for many years, IACF Ltd have decided to cancel their February 2010 Swinderby Fair. IACF Director, Robert Thomas, comments “The big advantage of Swinderby is its wide open spaces which of course can be a ‘disadvantage’ when there is a north east wind coming straight in from the arctic!! …The next Swinderby Fair will be from Monday 5 to Wednesday 7 April, by which time the snows should have melted.” The Newark Fair to be held on Thursday 4 & Friday 5 February is also unaffected due to its excellent venue facilities which can accommodate 1000+ stalls. This event is part of IACF’s Winter Season and so the Buyers’ swing badge allowing access on both days is just £10. For full details see IACF web site via TRADE INDEX

A Christmas Carol rings the bell.

Antiquarian Books

Christmas Carol at the top of the tree

22 December 2009

A COPY of A Christmas Carol has now knocked Oliver Twist off the top of the tree to become the most expensive Dickens title ever sold at auction.The 1843 first issue of arguably the most widely read and best-known of Dickens’ works was offered in the second and final portion of the William E. Self library of English and American literature at Christie’s New York on December 4, where it took $240,000 (£144,580).One of several books that once formed part of the magnificent Dickens collection of Alain de Suzannet, sold in 1971, this was one of the earliest recorded presentation copies.It was slightly “leaned” or bent and the text block was split at the centre, but it was one of a group of eight copies that Dickens is known to have signed on December 17, 1843. The other lucky recipients of this first batch included his friend and patron, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and William Makepeace Thackeray. This copy was given to Mrs Eliza Touchet, an older cousin of the writer Harrison Ainsworth. Following Ainsworth’s separation from his wife, Mrs Touchet acted as hostess when he was entertaining – as he did very frequenty and boisterously at his home at Kensal Lodge, near Willesden. In such company, which also regularly included the artists Daniel Maclise and George Cruikshank, as well as such distinguished figures as Disraeli and Edward Bulwer, Eliza could hold her own. She was known for her sharp tongue and brilliant conversation. More significant for the man who sent her the book, it was at one of these gatherings in the 1830s that John Macrone first expressed an interest in publishing Sketches by Boz, the work that launched Dickens’ brilliant career. By Ian McKay (Antiques Trade Gazette).

Not unfortunately on Vintage Cars but an article worth reading.

Accidents Waiting To Happen

By Tom Ripley for Driving Today. Falling asleep at the wheel is no laughing matter. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately 100,000 collisions are caused every year on U.S. highways by drivers who fall asleep. Of that number, 1,500 of the accidents result in fatalities and 71,000 cause physical injuries.  Clearly driver fatigue is a major safety problem so Volvo Car Corporation has launched an extensive initiative to deal with the problem.  The result of that effort is the new Volvo Driver Alert system, a decisive step in active safety. The technology is designed to monitor a vehicle’s progress on the road and alert the driver if it detects signs of fatigue or distraction. The system does not take control of the vehicle, but instead helps drivers make the right decision. Volvo Cars intends to patent the Driver Alert technology and make the system available in Volvo vehicles within two years. Instead of tracking lane markers or viewing the driver’s eyeballs, Driver Alert monitors the vehicle’s movement to determine if the vehicle is being driven in a controlled way. This method is unique among vehicle manufacturers, and it is designed to be reliable in a variety of circumstances. “We have chosen to monitor the vehicles progress on the road instead of steering wheel input or the driver’s eye movements,” said Dr. Wolfgang Birk, project manager for Driver Alert at Volvo Cars. “This gives us a more reliable indication if something is likely to go wrong, allowing the system time to alert the driver before it is too late. We do not monitor human behavior, which varies from one person to another, but instead the system monitors the effect of that behavior. That is why there is less of a risk for false alarms.” (We know of some human behavior that triggers a lot of alarms, but that’s another story.) The Driver Alert system consists of a camera, a number of sensors and a processor. The camera, which is installed between the windscreen and the rear-view mirror, continuously measures the distance between the vehicle and the markings on the surface of the road. The sensors register the vehicle movements (like weaving within or outside the lane) while the processor stores the information and calculates whether the driver is at risk. If the risk is assessed as high, the driver is alerted via an audible signal and a text message appears in the vehicle’s information display. The system also warns if the driver loses concentration for a reason other than fatigue. The system can detect if the driver is focusing too much on the navigation or audio systems or children in the vehicle, issuing an audible and visual alert before control is lost.  But it cannot spank the children.  After all, it’s Swedish. What’s more, the driver can retrieve a safety rating about their driving style, based on consistency of performance. Included in the vehicle’s trip computer, a display will provide the driver a rating, based on five stars. The less consistent the driving, the fewer stars illuminate. “Driver Alert should not be confused with a system that alerts the driver if a lane marker is breached without activating a turn signal,” Birk said. “Driver Alert monitors the way the vehicle is being driven and alerts the driver to their actions, rather than the vehicle’s position relative to a lane marker. In fact, Driver Alert will respond without the vehicle even crossing a lane marker.” The company’s goal was to ensure the system would only activate where the risk of falling asleep is the greatest and where a collision would have severe consequences. For example, a straight, smooth road has the potential to lull a driver into a deep sleep not unlike a meeting with an estate planner. The system is activated at speeds above 40 mph and remains active until speeds fall below approximately 37 mph. “During our tests, the system never once missed a driver who was falling asleep at the wheel,” said Birk. “Nonetheless, we will continue to test and fine-tune the system until Driver Alert is offered to Volvo customers. We expect it to be available within two years.” Frequently accused of sleepwalking through life, Driving Today Contributing Editor Tom Ripley writes about the human condition and the automobile business from his home in Villeperce, France.

Hotel Drouot Raided.

International Multiple arrests as police raid the Hôtel Drouot 07 December 2009   THE Hôtel Drouot was rocked to its foundations on December 2 after a massive police swoop ended with 12 people being taken into custody on suspicion of organised theft.An unspecified quantity of drawings, paintings, watches and objets d’art were impounded, led by a Gustave Courbet seascape, Paysage Marin Sous Ciel d’Orage, stolen in 2004 and worth an estimated 900,000 euros. As more than 30 officers descended on Drouot, another police raid took place at Drouot’s storage warehouse in Bagnolet, in the eastern suburbs of Paris. Over 100 containers were sealed as potential evidence. Eight of those taken into custody were members of Drouot’s handling and transportation department, the Union des Commissionnaires, better known as the Cols Rouges on account of their red-collared uniforms. Drouot auctioneer Eric Caudron was also taken into custody, suspected of being an accomplice to the sale of stolen goods. He denies knowing the provenance of the items concerned. The swoop followed an investigation by the Office Central Chargé de la Lutte contre le Vol et les Trafics d’Art (the police brigade for fighting art theft and trafficking), launched last May. The Cols Rouges have long been suspected of pilfering during estate inventories and transportation – with wine, jewellery and objets d’art, usually of modest value, their prime targets. Drouot authorities are thought to have routinely turned a blind eye. This is the first time a large-scale criminal investigation has been launched at the Drouot. The Cols Rouges is a closed-shop organisation composed of 110 men exclusively from the Alpine region of Savoie, who have enjoyed a monopoly of Drouot warehousing since Savoie was annexed to France in 1860. Each of the 110 has a numbered uniform and an equal stake in the company. Recruitment is by personal contact (and often family relationship) only. Drouot President Georges Delettrez has refused to comment on the swoop, beyond asserting that “suitable measures with regard to our service-providers will be taken once the results of the investigation are known”. That may not be any time soon. Police say their enquiries “have only just begun”. By Simon Hewitt

Portobello News

Fashion shop replaces Portobello arcade

14 December 2009

LIPKA’S Antiques Gallery, the Portobello antiques arcades that closed earlier this year, has now become an outlet for the AllSaints Spitalfields fashion chain.Home to more than 100 dealers for the Saturday market, traders were asked to leave Lipka’s a few months ago with some unable to find alternative space in Portobello.Campaigners for the market have expressed concern over the last few years about the appearance of big-name coffee chains and so-called ‘clone’ stores in the area. Now they are worried about the encroachment of fashion chains which they say will further damage the character of the area. Portobello Antiques Dealers Association chairman Costas Kleanthous said the new AllSaints outlet was to “the detriment of the antiques market, and has left dealers with nowhere to go”. He said he was writing to Kensington and Chelsea council to clarify terms of Portobello’s business conservation area status, designated in 2007. Lipka’s, however, was not on Portobello Road itself, but located on Westbourne Grove. It was previously run by the Portobello Group, who have six arcades on Portobello Road. It is also unclear whether the conservation status protects antiques centres from becoming chains in the same way that it does small independent shops.

(from AT&G)

Bermondsey Update from ATG.

Does Bermondsey need a relaunch?

30 November 2009

DEALERS in South London have cautiously welcomed Southwark Council’s proposal to relaunch Bermondsey Market, but remain sceptical as to whether funds will be made available to make a significant difference.They are also anxious that the originality of the historic market is preserved. Antiques traders have faced a difficult five years as the market has been moved around during the redevelopment of Bermondsey Square, which was completed earlier this year. Now the council have undertaken a consultation process with market traders with the aim of producing an action plan to “reinvigorate and transform” the markets in the London borough. The council’s draft strategy document says that the Friday antiques market is in decline with large numbers of empty stalls. It points out that the market “needs a significant rebrand and relaunch if it is to remain a significant tourist attraction”. The findings do not tally entirely with what the traders have to say. For instance, the council believe that only 40 to 50 stalls are currently let, with another 120 pitches available, whereas Bermondsey Antiques Market Traders’ Association chairman Joan Bygrave reports 70 to 80 stallholders at the last count. The council report also states that the stalls themselves are “in poor condition and present a detrimental image for the market”. Despite this, Joan Bygrave believes that the situation is now better than is being portrayed. She said business was improving now that the Bermondsey Square redevelopment was finished. “The area is becoming more lively and I know the market will survive and improve,” she said. “I have the utmost admiration for all the dealers who have struggled through the most difficult trading conditions during the five-year Bermondsey development. They have fought, and will fight, tooth and nail for the market to which they are dedicated, as am I.” Both she and the council agreed that publicity and signage needed improving, but she added that the council’s track record at promoting the market was poor. Traders’ confidence in the council has been an issue over the years when it comes to acting in the interests of the market. This is an issue that the council are well aware of and they say they have gone out of their way to try to build bridges. “We understand that there is support and affection for the markets and that’s why we want to keep them going and improve them,” said a council spokesman. “We know that the regeneration has affected trade at Bermondsey and some dealers have expressed disapproval, but we need to balance this with the needs of people who live there.” She also pointed out that in the last 12 months the council had spent £1m on street lighting, road improvements and tidying up the market areas in the borough. However, some dealers at Bermondsey doubted whether the council would make funds available for a significant rebranding. Joan Bygrave said: “The dealers are also very anxious that the market does not lose its originality and we would not wish it to become a ‘shrubs and tubs’ place like Covent Garden.” There were also questions raised as to who would implement the measures once they were decided. Since 2007, the market has been managed by Geraud Markets (UK) Ltd, the UK arm of Groupe Geraud, an Anglo-French company, who are the largest operators of local authority markets in Europe and have a number of local authority contracts in this country. According to Matt Steele, who combines jobs as the operations manager for Geraud UK and trading manager for Southwark Council, the agreement between Southwark Council and Geraud is a “loose, informal arrangement”, unlike Geraud’s structured legal relationship with Liverpool City Council for example. Mr Steele said: “We manage all of Southwark’s markets, whether there’s one trader or 250, and we have a contract with the council until July 2010. “As far as Bermondsey Antiques Market is concerned, new investment is certainly needed in stalls and promotion, and the signage is certainly very poor. There are many issues yet to be resolved by the council, all of them involving the presentation of the market.” With regard to the relationship with Geraud, the council spokesman said: “This is not a privatisation of the markets, as some have claimed, but we use the services of Geraud as they have great experience and expertise in this area. “We will look to put out to tender the management of the action plan once it is released.” It is envisaged that the action plan will be made public early next year. By Alex Capon and Joan Porter

More Stolen Antiques

Stolen

Old Father Thames stolen in Cordoba

05 October 2009

PICTURED here is an artist’s impression of one of a cache of easily identifiable antiques stolen from the Spanish home of two retired British antiques dealers.The 18th century 2ft (60cm) high limestone carving of Old Father Thames, sculpted by Lady Margaret Damer for Henley Bridge, was taken from the house in Cordoba on Saturday, July 25. A candle box incorporating a 14th century Nasrid carved panel and a Spanish 17th century red marble fountainhead were also among the stolen items. Any information should be directed to Guardia Civil, Puesto de Aguilar-de-la-Frontera, Cordoba 14920, Spain. Tel: 0034 95766 0013 (Antique Trade Gazette).

Elizabethan Silver to Shine at Crewkerne

 

Auction Previews

Historic Elizabethen silver dishes to sell in Crewkerne

07 September 2009

According to legend, during the English Civil War, a Royalist descendant of Sir Christopher Harris (c.1553-1625) of Radford, Devon, hid the family silver in a cave before fleeing, fearing for his life.The silver was lost for almost two centuries but was discovered by farm labourers in 1827 and returned to the Harris family.Among the hoard was the so-called Armada Service, a set of 31 Elizabethan silver parcel gilt dishes of varying sizes engraved on the rim with the arms of Sir Christopher Harris.The dishes were purportedly made from New World silver captured from Spanish treasure ships. This theory is unproven, but Sir Christopher did work for Sir Walter Raleigh in Devon and Cornwall as an Admiralty official during the clashes with Spain from 1585 to 1604. Judging by their hallmarks, Sir Christopher is thought to have acquired these dishes with the profits of office between 1581 and 1602. Some 60 years later, having fallen on hard times, the Harris family were forced to sell the dishes but only 26 were sold, five were missing. The new owners sold the 26 again in 1911 at Christie’s for £11,500 and they are now in the British Museum. But now two of the missing five Armada Service dishes have surfaced and willl be sold by Lawrences of Crewkerne on October 15. The 8in (20cm) diameter dishes are hallmarked London 1601 and estimated at £50,000-70,000 for the pair. Lawrences silver specialist, Alex Butcher, said: “It is still a mystery why these dishes were separated from the original set of 31.” The vendor believes that they were purchased in an estate sale somewhere in the Southern states of America. “It would be great to reunite them with the other dishes and be fantastic if the missing three should come to light.” He added: “It’s extremely rare that any domestic plate made before 1640 survives. It was almost all melted down during the Civil War.” Contact Lawrences on 01460 73041. By Anna Brady (Antique Trade Gazette)

Partridge Moves Out.

 

Old news now but it was sad today to pass the Bond Street shop and see the only thing in the window was a roll of bubble paper and some tape – the end to an era – but hopefully the administrators will be able to resurrect the business in a new format. – This follows the article below in July (I think from the ATG)..

Partridge Fine Art seeks buyer after going into administration

21 July 2009

PARTRIDGE Fine Art, the landmark Bond Street dealership in business for more than 100 years, went into administration this week.MCR partners Andrew Stoneman and Matt Bond have been appointed as joint administrators and are running the firm as normal while actively seeking a buyer for the business, its assets and the lease of the building itself.The dealership is housed in possibly the grandest building in Bond Street, a purpose-built four-storey listed building called the Palace of the Arts, from where it has supplied the finest art and antiques to the likes of Queen Mary, the Burrell Collection in Glasgow and, perhaps most notably, the British Museum and the Getty Museum in Malibu, California.   The company ran into trouble around five years ago, when then chairman John Partridge unveiled what he dubbed the worst set of trading figures in his 46 years at the helm.   Former auctioneer and ceramics specialist Mark Law, who already ran porcelain specialists Albert Amor, quickly put together a bid to take control of the company. With the backing of a consortium including former Culture secretary David Mellor – a client of Partridge – he formed Amor Holdings, an investment vehicle that bought out the Partridge family in a £14m staggered deal.   Princess Michael of Kent was later appointed president of the company.Reports indicate that Allied Irish Bank was the main creditor and was offered 65p in the pound to settle the debt on July 17, with Mr Law offering to make up the shortfall from his own funds. The administrators were called in when no deal was struck.Administrator Andrew Stoneman said: “This is a world famous fine art dealer with a strong and loyal customer base.  It is too early to determine the reasons why the company has gone into administration and we are concentrating on saving the business and selling the store as a going concern, thus saving a piece of history as well as the employment of those working there. We are confident that there will be a significant amount of interest.” Although Mr Stoneman could not be drawn on the cause of the firm’s failure, general current trading conditions combined with what are thought to be the high costs of running the four-storey building are bound to have taken their toll.