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PLEASE NOTE: There are hundreds more auctions across the UK at Government Auctions UK

Also, more information and full contact details for all the following sales are available in the database - just type in the name of the auctioneer of your choice into the search facility. If you are a member of GAUK please note that the following information is available in the news section as soon as we get it

BCVA
15 Dec 2005 10:30
Bristol
Avon

Reason for Sale: On instructions from Liquidators, Customs & Excise, Certified Bailiffs, Sheriff's Office & Others
Viewing: Day Prior 11am to 6pm and morning of sale from 9am.
Catalogue Info:

Content: TOOLS ETC.

Sack Trucks, Telescopic Ladder, High Lift Jack, Contractor's Stilts, Spanner Sets, Padlocks, Tarpaulins, Impact Wrench, Winches, Halogen Lights, Drain Rods, Paint, Tiles, generators, mitre saw, hammer drills, compressor, trench wacker etc

Kitchen Items, Bathroom Items, Toys and Games, Inflatable Mattresses, Flat Pack Items, Blinds, Curtain Poles, Tidy Rails, Suitcases, Radio Controlled Cars, Telephones, Christmas Lights, Smartcarts, Nursery Items, Scooters, Kitchen Trolleys, Curtains, Zimmer Frame etc

Mobile Phones, Clothes, Alcohol, jewellery, Watches, Designer Cosmetics, Purses and Wallets, Leather Jackets, Digital Cameras, Toys and Games, Personal CD Players, Gent's Suits, Video Cameras, Canon EOS10D digital camera, White Metal Teaset, Pentax Binoculars, Swiss Army Knives, Leatherman Multi Tools, Corkscrews, Cutlery, Scissors, Books etc

Fancy Goods, Ceramic Tiles, Paint, Wristwatches, Greetings Cards, Office Desks, Ezee Rocker Cribs, Telescope, Knife Sets, Mountain Bike, Dishwasher, Candleholders, Candles, Kitchen Worksurfaces, Ready Mix Plaster, Tile Adhesive, Waste Disposal Unit, Stainless Steel Sink Unit, Mini Motorbike, Bottle Chillers, Pub Tables & Chairs, Jewellery, Flatpack Shed, Giant Cuddly Toys, Weather Vane, John Deer Tractor Models, Children's Jungle Gym, Patio Heater, Garden Parasol, As New Office Chairs, Child's Swing etc

Artificial Flowers, Galvanised Buckets, Vases, Greetings Cards, Candles, Mini Greenhouses, Cuddly Toys, Shelf Units, Wrapping Paper, Oasis, Wire Frames, Material, Rugs, Flower Food, Gravestone, Balloons, Message Cards, Tissue Paper, Baskets, Cash Registers, Personal Computer, Calor Gas Heater, De-Humidifier, Aluminium Step Ladder, A-Frame Board etc

A G&L L2500 Fender 5 String Bass Guitar in Hard Case with Certificate of Authenticity, G & L Warranty, Peavey Max 450 Bass Amplifier and Peavey 410 TVX Speaker

Widescreen TVs, Fax Machines, Bluetooth Headsets, Fujitsu Laptop Computer, Car CD Player, Radio Controlled Cars, Morphy Richards Slow Cooker, Jug Kettles, Philips Senseo Coffee Makers, Tefal Steam Cuisine, Upright Vacuums, DVD/Video Combis, Top Up TV Digital Receivers, Steam Irons, VHS Recorders, Micro Hi-Fi Systems, Security Cameras, Philips VHS/TV combis, Air Cooler, MP3 Players etc

A 1977 Land Rover Pick Up (S), A 1992 VW Golf CL Auto 5 Door Hatchback (K), A 1996 Vauxhall Astra Merit 5 Door hatchback (N), A 1996 Peugeot 306 XL 5 Door Hatchback (N), A 1995 VW Golf 3 Door Hatchback (N), A 2000 Vauxhall Corsa CDX 16V Auto (V), A 1996 Vauxhall Vectra LS TD 5 Door Hatchback (N), A 1976 Ferrari 400 4390cc Coupe with Cherished No. Plate WAW 11, A Renault Safrane (M), A Rover 420 Sli (N), A 2002 Ford Focus CL (02), A 1998 BMW 525 TDS SE Auto 4 Door Saloon (R), A 2001 Suzuki Jimny JLX (51), A 2000 Ford Focus 1.8 Ghia (W), A 2001 MG ZT190 2.5 4 Door Saloon (Recorded as Stolen Recovered) (51)

Commercial Vehicles: A 1996 Renault Tipper HGV with Crew Cab (P), A 1987 Iveco-Ford Breakdown Truck Recovery Vehicle (D), A 1990 Iveco-Ford 5 Speed Tilt and Slid Recovery Truck (H)
Motorcycles: A 2003 Honda ST 1300A Pan European (03).

Simon Charles Auctioneers
15 Dec 2005 10:00
Stockport
Cheshire

Reason for Sale: On instructions of High Court Enforcement Officers, Marriott Hotels, Hospitals, Upholstery/Bed/Carpet/Leather Furniture Manufacturers, Bathroom/Kitchen/Power Tool Distributors, TV & Audio Retail Group & VARIOUS OTHERS
Viewing: Wednesday 14th December 3pm - 7pm & Morning of Sale from 8.30am
Catalogue Info: Only Available At The Door £2.00, Admits 2 People Only
Additional Info: No Children Allowed At Any Time. IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED BY LAW And A Refundable (Cash Only) Deposit Of £100 Required For A Bidding Card. Credit & Debit Cards Accepted For Final Payments Of Goods. Items to Be Collected Before 3pm Friday 16th December 2005. Delivery On Request. Food & Drinks Available All Day In Our Cafeteria.

Content: FURNITURE & ACCESSORIES

Top of the Range Brand Name 3 Piece Suites & Recliners in Leather & Designer Fabrics. Leather Tub Chairs. Designer Sofas & Chairs in Hopsack, Leather, Chenille, Jacquard & Hessian Fabrics. Big Sofas & Corner Suites in Leather & Chenille. Designer Name Sofas & Wingback Chairs in Leather & Exclusive Fabrics. A Collection of French Style Cabinets to Include 'Rochelle' Solid Alder, Cherry Sideboards, Display Cabinets, Coffee Tables & Lamp Tables. Solid Cherry Bedroom Chairs. 'Instincts' Solid Oak Dining Table & 6 Chairs Sets. 'Tao' Solid Hevea Robes. 'Toulon' Solid Cherry Triple Robes, 4 Drawer Chests, Bedsides & Bedsteads. New Zealand Pine & Hardwood Hand Crafted Desks, Sideboards, DVD Cabinets, Coffee Tables, Dining Tables & Chairs. Designer Name Ivory Painted Cabinets & Tables. Solid Oak Robes, Dining Tables & Chairs. Rustic Pine Robes. Large Quantity of Mexican & South American Reproduction Furniture. Quantity of Divan Beds & Mattresses, Orthopaedic Beds & Drawer Divans. Selection of Room Size Carpets in 80% Wool, Velvet, Tufted & Twist Pile, in Various Colours & Sizes. Elegant Modern Loop New Zealand Wool Carpets. Luxurious Shag Pile New Zealand Wool Carpets, All Hand Crafted in India. Collection of Hand Woven 100% Vegetarian Dyed Persian Rugs & Terracotta Floor Tiles. Traditional & Contemporary Floor & Table Lamps. Original Abstract Oil Paintings. Various Framed Pictures & Mirrors. Designer Flat Sheets, Fitted Sheets, Throws & Cushions. Quantity of Kilim Turkish Cushion Covers. 50 Piece Dinner Services. Various Designer Accessories

Quantity of Heated Bathroom Rails & Multirails in White & Chrome in Various Sizes. Large Quantity of Ladies, Mens & Childrens Clothing Including Jackets, T-Shirts, Knitwear, Jeans, Trousers, Shirts Etc. Large Quantities of Assorted Items Briefly to Include Christmas Lights, Planters, Singing Snowman, Santa, Tinsel, Net Lights, Fibre Optics, Signs, Calendars, Tealights, Mistletoe, Solar Garden Lights, Seasonal Products, Toys, Home & Office Furniture. Home Entertainment Equipment, Assorted Guitars. Exclusive Collection of Diamond Jewellery. Various Brand Name TV's, DVD's & VCR's. AV Receivers & Systems, Range of Brand Name Kitchen & Domestic Appliances. Pressure Washers, Shredders, Mitre Saws, Dehumidifiers, Routers, Hedge Trimmers, Table Saws. Ladies, Gents & Children's Mountain Bikes. Large Quantity of Gas Hobs, Extractors & Whirlpool Ceramic Gas Hobs

Garland Electric Chargrill, Classic Dishwasher, Dualit Toaster 4 Slot, Dualit Toaster Maker, Parry 4 Pot Bain Marie, Toshiba Microwave, Amocott Bake off Fan Assisted Commercial Oven, Bizerba 12" slicer, Jackson Auto Fill Water Boiler.

Briefly Consisting of Entrance & Bar Furniture. Mahogany Drinks Cabinets, TV Cabinets & Lamp Tables. Leather & Fabric 3 Piece Suites. Cast Iron Bath Tubs & Bidets. Ice Machine, Trash Compactor. Brass Stand Lamps, Picture Lights & Lighting, Mirrors. Large Collection of Various Framed Paintings & Pictures. TV & Film Actors & Actresses Paraphernalia Etc.

Foster Freezer Double Door Refrigerator Freezers, Electrolux Freezer Double Refrigerator Freezer, Papor Double Door Refrigerator Freezer, Foster Freezer & Porkka Blast Chillers. Litton Commercial Microwave Oven, Hobart Floor Mixers, Hobart Steamer on Stand, Falcon Gas Fryers & Double Fryers, Falcon Gas Grill Dominator. Various Single & Double Plate Lowerators. New Unused Lincat Salomander Electric Grill, Lincat Electric Fryer, Lincat Electric 4 Plate Boiler Cooker. Papor, Electrolux & Convestar Electric Convec Ovens on Stands, Electrolux & Papor Gas Ovens on Stands. Wellstood Stiil Gas Hot Cupboard with Top Food Dispay Warmer Large Falcon Gas Steakhouse Grills on Stands. Moffat & Falcon Gas Hot Cupboards, Hobart Food Slicer Machines, Pot Wash Machine, Hobart Waste Disposal & Pot Wash. Waste Disposal & Waste Disposal Table with Wash Sink & Shower with Corner Table. Various Electric & Gas Hot Plate Stoves & Hot Cupboards. 8 Burner Cooker with Double Oven, 3 Door Refrigerator on Wheels. Large Quantity of Steel 2, 3 & 4 Shelve Pot & Trolley Stands, Steel Work Tables & Steel Corner Tables with Bottom Shelves. Multigen 2 &Grundy Ward Hostess Food Trolleys.

Quantity of Glassware Including Wine Glasses, Soft Drinks Glasses, Spot Glasses, Pint & Half Pint Glasses for Larger & Bitter, Optics & Pourers. Till, Stereo Equipment, Double Bar Fridges. Lage Quantity of Restaurant Furniture Including Quality Pine Tables to Seat 80, Pine Chairs, Black Boards, Hall Stand, Pictures & Paintings, Maps, Old Plaques, Bar Stools, Pine Chests of Drawers, Wardrobe, TV Cabinet & Dressing Table. Stainless Steel Prep Benches, Upright Fridges, Freezer. 2 Pot Coffee Machines, Warming Cupboard, Industrial & Domestic Microwaves, Fryers, Mincing Machines, Dishwasher, Industrial Dryer. Quantity of Crockery & Utensils.

Thimbleby & Shorland
17 Dec 2005 09:30
Reading
Berkshire

Viewing: Day Prior 12noon to 4.30pm and day of sale from 8am.
Catalogue Info: £2.50 on request or on line.
Additional Info: additional vehicles accepted up to 9.30 am on day of sale VRD & MOT obligatory

Content: WORKSHOP TOOLS & EQUIPMENT; GARDEN MACHINERY & NURSERY STOCK

(by Order of the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy) 1999 Volvo V40XS, 1998 VW Passat SE20V, 1994 Vauxhall Cavalier GLS and others

Reason for Sale: RE: Simclar (Ayrshire) Ltd (due to cessation of manufacturing of plastics division)
Viewing: Day prior from 9.30am to 4.30pm and morning of sale from 9am or view and bid online now.
Catalogue Info: Available from the aucioneers website.

Content: PLANT, MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT OF PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDING DIVISION. INCLUDING MODERN MACHINE SHOP

Injection Moulding Machines: 34 x Modern (1987 - 98) Battenfeld Injection Moulding Machines (25 - 850 tons), Robotic Handlers.Temperature Controllers.
Granulating & Inspection Equipment: BTP Silenator Granulator with 19in x 11 in Opening,1989 Auto Type 7.5M/0.75KW Dust Extraction Unit with Cyclone and Ducting,Granulator Unit with 18in x 16in Opening, Single Bag Dust Extraction Fan Unit with Cyclone and Ducting LK Mod G90C Co-Ordinate Measuring Machine with Renishaw PK1 - TP2 Probe, 1400mm x 1280mm Table. Pad Printers.

Modern Machine Shop Equipment: Kitchen & Walker Mod KWM 32-1000 Radial Arm Drill with T-Slot Block, Mitsubushi Mod EX 30 CNC Electrical Discharge Machine with FP100E Controls, 24in x 10in Chuck, ING 24 Extinguisher, FP40B Booster Supply and 16 Position Tool Changer, Jones & Shipman Mod 1400X Horizontal Surface Grinder with 24in x 8in Magnetic Chuck and Bedatec Coolant Filter, Jones & Shipman Mod 540 Horizontal Surface Grinder with 17in x 6in Magnetic Chuck, Optidress Unit, Drytex Type T21 Unit Dust Collector and Bedatec Coolant Filter (Reconditioned by Andamar),Colchester Triumph 2000 Centre Lathe, 7.5in R x 42in Ctrs with 3 Jaw Chuck and
Mitutoya 2 Axis DRO, Excel Mod MHB 1016 Horizontal Bandsaw, Bridgeport Vertical Turret Mill with 9in x 48in T-Slot Table and Anilam
Wizard 150 Plus 2 Axis DRO, Ajax 6in Double Ended Grinder on Pedestal, Granite Table 3ft x 3ft with Mitutoya Height Gauge Record DMD
24A Drill Press

Miscellaneous: Compressors and Powder Coating Equipment. Water Cooling Equipment

Phillip Davis, The Auction Centre, Hammond Avenue, Whitehill Ind. Est., Stockport. Tel: 0161 429 0300. Wednesday 14th December at 12noon; contents of a music shop including guitars and amplifiers, home gymnasium equipment, computers and peripherals, colour televisions. Taking place at The Auction Centre, Hammond Avenue.

Simon Charles Auctioneers, Unit 5, Pear Mill, Pear Industrial Estate, Stockport Road West, Lower Bredbury, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 2BP Tel: 0161 406 0111.Thursday 15th December at 10am;new and contemporary furniture, designer goods and items, Mexican and South American reproduction furniture, catering and kitchen equipment. Taking place at Unit 5, Pear Industrial Estate.

Wilson Peacock, 26 Newnham Street, Bedford. Tel: 01234 266366. Thursday 15th December at 11am; contractors plant, vehicles, stock and equipment. Taking place at Creasey Park Drive, Brewer's Hill, Dunstable, Beds.

Charles Taylor, The Auction Centre, Missouri Avenue, Salford, Manchester. Tel: 0161 737 5252. Thursday 15th December at 10.30am; mixed merchandise including police lost and recovered goods. Taking place at The Auction Centre, Salford.

Sweeney Kincaid, 17-19 Colquhoun Avenue, Hillington, Glasgow. Tel: 0141 570 4000. Friday 16th December at 10am;electrical wholesalers stock, office furniture and business equipment. Taking place at Colquhoun Avenue

Christmas appeal: A day with Tracey Emin or a night out with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown?

The bids are flooding in for The Independent's charity auction, but with 10 days until the deadline, there is still plenty of time to act.

One of the most popular lots is a day with Tracey Emin, who will explore the Tower of London with a reader and their family, after showing them round her own studio. Bidding stands at £2,500.

The sum of £2,500 has also been offered for lunch at The Ivy with the paper's editor-in-chief, Simon Kelner. Last year, the winning bid was £1,511.

For the first time, Robert Fisk is offering a lunchtime lecture, followed by questions, on Islam and the West. The bidding, standing at £1,988.17 last night, offers the chance for 12 people to join him in The Independent's boardroom.

There are plenty of bargains still to be had. Columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Lot 4) will take two adults and two children to her favourite curry house in Southall. Bidding currently stands at £150,

And if you think your son or daughter has Wimbledon potential, the tennis coach and Independent columnist Nick Bolletieri is offering a week's scholarship for an under-18 player at his training centre in Florida (Lot 27). Standing at a bargain £65 last night, compared with the £3,000 offered last year, this lot includes room, board and tennis programme, but not air-fare or transport to and from the airport.

For those who enjoy fine wine, a tour of the vineyards of Burgundy in the company of John Lichfield, The Independent's Paris correspondent, is currently at only £355 (Lot 34). Last year, this lot went for £1,750.

Also available is a tour of the recording studio with Blur bass player Alex James while he is cutting his album (Lot 18). Bidding is currently at £350 compared with £950 last year.

The auction closes at 1pm on Friday 23 December and all winning bids go to The Independent's Christmas Appeal, A Better Place. For full details of the lots, the terms and conditions, and how to enter, go to www.independent.co.uk/auction.

Vodafone Bid Wins Telsim Auction
The U.K.’s Vodafone early this morning outbid a field of competitors in a televised open auction for ownership of Number Two Turkish cellular carrier Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon (Telsim), with a winning bid of $4.55 billion.

The final gavel fell after the last remaining competitor, Kuwait’s MTC, dropped out with a bid of $4.53 billion. There had been 14 competitors at the auction’s start.

Vodafone, which expects to close on the acquisition of its prize early next year, now plans to plow another $1 billion into Telsim to upgrade the carrier’s network.

The Turkish Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TSDIF), which seized Telsim last year as security in a $6 billion bank failure, had set a minimum opening bid of $2.8 billion for the carrier. Most observers had expected to see a winning bid closer to $5 billion, and some had estimated the bidding could go as high as $7 billion (TelecomWeb news break, Dec. 12). Vodafone’s bid, thus, was at the low end of the expected range.

The open bidding saw only four companies left in the competition to buy Telsim, but Egypt's Orascom and Emaar, a Dubai-based construction company, dropped out as Vodafone and MTC pushed the price ever higher. Russia's Sistema and the United Arab Emirates' telecom group Etisalat had been eliminated yesterday when sealed bids were opened and they came in low. Sistema, which bid only about $3 billion, issued a statement saying that it refused to overpay for Telsim.

Interestingly, analysts in Turkey had pegged MTC and Emaar as the most likely winners, while in the U.K., some analysts had predicted Vodafone wouldn’t be able to afford a winning bid because of losses at the company’s Japanese subsidiary. Indeed, Vodafone said the acquisition will “make net losses in the short to medium term as it invests in the network, building scale and a stronger customer and brand proposition. Consequently, Vodafone expects the transaction to be dilutive to adjusted earnings per share in the short to medium term.”

Still Vodafone, understandably, was jubilant over its victory. “With a larger population than every European country except Germany, and a penetration level of approximately 53 percent, the Turkish market represents a major growth opportunity,” said Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin in a prepared statement. “Our extensive operating experience and unique set of products and services positions us to compete effectively in such a youthful market and deliver a superior mobile experience to Turkish customers."

What Vodafone is getting is a carrier with about 9 million customers, up 53 percent in the 12 months ended June 30. Revenue growth in the first seven months of 2005 was 43 percent year-over-year. And that, Vodafone noted, is despite the fact that “the business has historically been undermanaged and suffered from underinvestment in its network and customer propositions.”

Telsim’s competition is Turkcell, with nearly 27 million subscribers, and Avea, a partnership between Turk Telekom and Telecom Italia Mobile, with about 6.5 million users. Turkey’s total population is about 72 million.

The TSDIF, by the way, won’t get all of the money Vodafone is paying for Telsim. Estimates are it will clear only about $3.3 billion. The difference will go to Motorola and Nokia, both of which claim it was defrauded by the Uzan family, which owned Telsim before it was seized by the TSDIF along with 200 other Uzan ventures in order to recover at least part of the $6 billion Turkey spent to cover losses at the Uzan-controlled bank Imar that failed. Under a settlement with Telsim and TSDIF, Motorola recently got a check for $500 million, but it and Nokia also were promised part of any of the proceeds from any sale of Telsim assets that topped $2.5 billion (TelecomWeb news break, Oct. 28).

The Telsim controversy dates back to 1998, when Motorola and Nokia plowed piles of money into the company. In January 2002, Motorola and Nokia sued the Uzan family in U.S. federal court, saying the group cheated the companies out of $3 billion in a false financing scheme.

In August 2003, Motorola and Nokia won the case (TelecomWeb news break, Aug. 1, 2003), with the Uzans ordered to pay Motorola more than $4.2 billion -- a payment that never happened as the case got ever more complicated, particularly with the Turkish government taking action of its own and seizing the Uzan assets, not because of the Telsim issue, but because of the unrelated bank failure.

Vodafone carefully added, as a footnote to its winning bid statement, that it is not acquiring Telsim's liabilities, including those specifically related to Motorola and Nokia, other than “certain minor employee-related liabilities.”

Celebrity phone auction hits the web
The latest Samsung handsets, loaded with music choosen by celebrities, are been auctioned on eBay to raise money for Children in Need.

Samsung and O2 are to auction the new Samsung i300 music phone, complete with celeb's top ten tracks downloaded onto the phone, to raise money for BBC charity Children in Need.

The winning bidders will receive a brand new Samsung i300 mobile, loaded with the play list of their chosen celebrity from a list that includes Johnny Vaughan, Sadie Frost, T4's Steve Jones, Little Britain's Matt Lucas and DJ Yousef.

Mark Mitchinson, director of Samsung Mobile UK, said: “This is a great opportunity for people to get their hands on the latest music phone, with a slight twist. eBay bidders can listen to Bez's top tunes, and then add hundreds of their own tracks on top.”

Bids start later today and close on 18 December. The new Samsung music phone will be sold exclusively through O2 in the UK until 31 December 2005.

Mobile auction service launches
Mobile phone bidding service Hunt For It has launched to let users take part in online auctions while on the move.
The site, at www.huntforit.co.uk, lets users bid via SMS with 10% of add on fees going to charity or community based projects.

The site will initially be giving away free listings to sellers and to kick start the charity and community feature, hunt for it are donating £1000 to the cause. To promote the launch, the site features competition prizes including an Oasis signed electric guitar, Xbox 360s, a summer party holiday for 4 people and 5 Sony PSPs.

Art sales: quality lifts the mood
There is still no shortage of money around for really good Old Masters, writes Will Bennett

The Old Master paintings market might sometimes appear weak and sickly, but the right medicine soon gets the patient out of bed and dancing around like a teenager. Last week, Christie's auctioned eight fine paintings with impeccable provenance that were last on the market in the 19th century, and dealers and collectors enthusiastically scooped them up for £9 million.

Christ the Man of Sorrow by Murillo soared past its estimate of £500,000 -£700,000

The pictures were the last remnants of one of Britain's greatest private art collections, established by the wealthy linen and textiles merchant Sir Francis Cook in Victorian times. By the time of his death in 1901, Sir Francis, who started collecting only in middle age, had assembled 500 works, including masterpieces by Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Titian, Tintoretto and Raphael. But financial problems forced his descendants to sell most of the collection over the next few decades and Christie's was involved in the dispersal as early as the 1930s, launching a relationship with the family that has endured.

When Brenda, Lady Cook, widow of Sir Francis's great-grandson, decided to put her estate in order by selling the last few pictures, Sotheby's was not asked to compete for the consignment. The collection provided a windfall for Christie's Old Master paintings department, which has been soundly beaten by Sotheby's for most of the past decade but which, under the leadership of former dealers Richard Knight and Nicholas Hall, is now giving its rivals some serious competition.

Not only did the Cook pictures comfortably exceed their £5 million pre-sale estimate, they provided the three highest prices of the evening. Meleager and Atalanta Hunting the Boar, an oil sketch by Rubens, went to an anonymous telephone bidder for £3.1 million once Christie's had added its commission. The hammer price of £2.8 million was within the estimate, but Murillo's Christ the Man of Sorrows soared past the predicted price of £500,000-£700,000.

The London dealer Luca Baroni fought off competition from several bidders to buy this wonderful 17th-century Spanish painting for £2.4 million, a record for the artist. A European private collector paid £1.2 million, also a record, for a rare signed gold-ground painting, The Madonna and Child, by the 14th-century Sienese artist Naddo Ceccarelli.

Richard Green, Britain's biggest art dealer, bought two other Cook paintings, Group Portrait of a Family in an Italianate Garden by Nicolaes Maes, for a record £792,000, and Portrait of Captain Alexander Hood, later 1st Viscount Bridport by Joshua Reynolds, for £512,000.

Such prices put the saleroom in an upbeat mood, and all but the most hopeless offerings sold. The latter included Titian's Portrait of a Lady and her Daughter, which had attracted more pre-sale publicity than the rest of the auction put together and was estimated at £5 million to £8 million. The media loved the delightful story of a genuine Titian discovered under the work of a studio assistant, but all the restoration and hype in the world could not conceal the fact that it is a poor, unfinished painting, and it did not attract a single bid.

Despite this setback, Christie's had good reason to be pleased, with a total of £16.5 million from a sale where 85 per cent of the lots found buyers. This was well ahead of Sotheby's evening sale total of £10.4 million.

Sotheby's had few good pictures and most of the top lots went to dealers. Alan Hobart paid £1.1 million for Aelbert Cuyp's Landscape with a Hunt and a Portrait of a Youth with his Tutor, Danny Katz acquired Lorenzo Monaco's St Jerome in the Wilderness for £1 million and Johnny Van Haeften bought Pieter Brueghel the Younger's A Winter Landscape with the Massacre of the Innocents for £736,000.

The atmosphere at Sotheby's was subdued, with most people in the saleroom well aware that there was better fare at Christie's the following evening, but two-thirds of the paintings sold, which is a typical percentage for the December Old Masters sales in London.

The lesson from last week's auctions is that the Old Masters sector has a much bigger problem with supply than with demand. It is not particularly fashionable and certainly lacks the white heat of the contemporary market, but, more than a century after his death, Sir Francis proved that there is still no shortage of money around for really good pictures.

We reveal how as pension 'A-Day' approaches, you could get a 40% discount off any property you buy

6 April 2006 could be the most important day of your life if you've ever dreamt of making your fortune in property. It will mark the most radical reform of the British pensions system in 50 years and is known as A.Day.

After this date you will be allowed to put property into your pension for the very first time. Also, even better, you can receive up to 40% off any commercial or residential property you purchase ˆ all with the blessing of the taxman.

Presently, the way to own property in a pension is through an insurance company property fund. From 'A-Day' onwards by the choice of a Self-Invested Pension (SIPP) you will, as an individual, be able to invest in commercial or residential property as part of your pension fund.

Knowledge is what you know about some particular thing or another. Wisdom is what you know about all that is.
Facts and concepts exist in your mind. Wisdom exists in all that you are.

When faced with a decision, your thoughts will take you only so far. After reaching that point, let wisdom guide you.

Wisdom is what you know without the slightest bit of doubt or hesitation. When you act based on wisdom, you act with real confidence and true purpose.

Wisdom is more than merely the memory of a certain set of facts, conditions or circumstances. Wisdom is an awareness of what is, combined with a love of life, of light, of truth.

Wisdom is there for you to discover and nurture in each moment. Open your mind, your heart, and your spirit to the wisdom that can bring real and lasting value to your world.

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