5 February 2015
A bipartisan bill was introduced into the House of Representatives yesterday to protect lawful ivory possession. ‘… the legislation, the African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possesion Act of 2015, would effectively end the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s unilateral…
Read More...1 February 2015
The Winter Antiques Show (WAS) drew to a close on Sunday evening. The fair has been a huge pleasure: well organised, well attended, and active. The atmosphere between the exhibitors is collegial, with constant conversation and laughter. Business was done…
Read More...20 January 2015
Sunday was one of those New York days when to be out on the streets was to be soaked to the skin. It just rained and rained. Still, having enjoyed a couple of rewarding hours at the Blind Pig, it…
Read More...29 November 2014
It is nearly ten months since President Obama’s executive order heralded a de facto ban in the USA on the import of works of art made of, or containing ivory. Now, in some administrative and political circles, it is increasingly understood that the applauded effort to stamp out the trade in tusks from the endangered African elephant has had an unfair and unintended impact on the commercial movement of historic works of art.
Read More...17 November 2014
With the latest twist in the fate of Wentworth Woodhouse (above) on everyone’s mind, the lecture theatre at the Victoria and Albert Museum was packed on Saturday for a symposium, organized by ‘SAVE Britain’s Heritage’ and the V&A, to commemorate…
Read More...7 November 2014
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has just opened a magnificent new gallery celebrating the seventeenth-century European Kunstkammer. Different in ambition, but equally thought-provoking, is a gallery at the New Orleans Museum of Art, examining the Western concept of Orientalism…
Read More...13 October 2014
Berkeley Square is once again at its magnificent, European best. Over the weekend dealers in ‘art and design’ good-naturedly negotiated the chaos that is an art fair under construction. Sandwiches and semi-drinkable coffee from the outside world sustained us as…
Read More...9 October 2014
Philip Blairman (1896-1972), whom I remember well in his older age, remains an inspiration. He had taste, curiosity and foresight. It was my grandfather who saw our firm flourish in Harrogate and London, as well as, for a period, in…
Read More...28 September 2014
Dr Christopher Dresser: a pioneer of modern design Writing in 1937, Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-83) noted that ‘While engaged in research on the origins of the Modern Movement quite by chance [he] came across the name and two isolated examples of…
Read More...21 September 2014
Looted art (raubkunst) has been a more evident feature on museums’ agendas, across the world, since an appropriate approach to art spoliated during the Nazi era (1933-45) was enshrined in the Washington Agreement (1998). In brief, museum directors concluded that…
Read More...15 September 2014
The fitting climax to the consistently stimulating ‘Recovering Fonthill’ symposium and visits organised by Caroline Dakers (University of the Arts London, 12-13 September), was the haunting experience of standing on the ground beneath what was once the nearly three hundred foot…
Read More...26 August 2014
There is simply no doubt that the public derides the slaughter of endangered species, specifically the African elephant. What is equally certain is that there is no comparable, deeply felt outcry against works of art made of or using ivory. …
Read More...8 August 2014
Reading hourly of the human cost of events around the globe, it is sometimes hard to worry too much about ivory. But in ‘our’ small world it is a significant issue, and one that we should continue to address. Although throughout the States many are enjoying vacations, lobbying efforts in Washington and elsewhere continue unabated.
Read More...16 July 2014
The 61st Winter Antiques Show, 23 January to 1 February 2015. Sometimes unanticipated circumstances lead to new thinking. Since 1996 Blairman’s has enjoyed being a part of the excellent October International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show in New York,…
Read More...27 June 2014
It was, of course, fortunate that no one was hurt on 23 May, when a massive fire destroyed the library of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s iconic School of Art. Over coming months there will be discussions over how to fund and…
Read More...22 June 2014
A hearing of the Congressional Oversight Committee in Washington, scheduled for 26 June, will take evidence on the proposed (in reality de facto) ban in the United States on the commercial movement of antique cultural objects made of or containing…
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