Painting of Sir Stirling Moss for sale at Masterpiece
As Masterpiece 2014 comes towards it conclusion on the 2nd July, we feature another fine work on display there – an oil on canvas painting of Sir Stirling Moss with an Aston Martin DBR1 and a CC100 concept car (more…)
A can of beer in hand, this bearded wanderer likes to serenade customers outside Brompton Road restaurants such as La Brasserie and Aubaine. He’s been known to do handstands and especially loves persuading old ladies to dance. A donation of £1 will have him jump into a jig.
Two works from American galleries on display at Masterpiece
Business on the opening day at Masterpiece 2014 was brisk with one dealership, Symbolic & Chase, selling a 1912 Cartier corsage for in excess of $20 million (£11.75 million). Our friends at Apter-Fredericks, equally, were delighted to sell an important mirror in the first hour and the pair of pagoda top cabinets we featured for a seven figure sum later in the day. (more…)
Alexandra Naylor reports on this year’s strawberries and Pimm’s fuelled Wimbledon Championships
It’s Wimbledon again – the oldest and most prestigious tennis championship in the world. (more…)
The Steeple Times chooses six of the best items on display at Masterpiece 2014
Thursday marks the official opening of the fifth annual Masterpiece art and antiques fair featuring over 150 leading galleries from across the world. To accompany today’s preview, The Steeple Times asked six of the exhibitors to choose their highlight from their stands (more…)
Matthew Steeples reviews Toto’s in Knightsbridge, London
It takes something for me to be impressed with a restaurant but after three visits to the newly reopened Toto’s in Knightsbridge, I will boldly declare that I believe it to be the best opening of 2014 (more…)
Charlie and Rebekah Brooks cleared of all charges
Two years ago, in the bar of a Chelsea restaurant, Charlie Brooks told me that the charges against him and his wife would go away and today he’s been proven right (more…)
The highest earning author of 2013, Erika Leonard James raked in £33.3 million that year and £10.6 million in 2012. Her Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has had readers hooked but despite her wealth this adult romance writer continues to live modestly in west London. With over 500,000 followers on Twitter, James has set the record for the fastest selling paperback of all time yet modestly stated: “The explosion of interest has taken me completely by surprise”.
This maverick publishing legend and poet founded Dennis Publishing in 1974 and was the first person to say the word “cunt” on live British television in 1970 on David Frost’s The Frost Programme. Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Felix Dennis was jailed but subsequently acquitted in a trial relating to a sexually explicit Rupert the Bear cartoon strip during his time working at the OZ underground magazine and went on to create great titles such as Maxim and The Week. He planted over 1,000,000 native saplings in his attempt to establish a large native forest in Warwickshire and owned one of the largest collections of original bronze sculptures. Dennis – who was said to be worth in excess of £750 million – famously once spelt Che Guevara’s name wrong and once stated: “Making money is certainly the one addiction I cannot shake”. He is to be “buried in a linen wrap in a cardboard coffin in [his] forest with an oak tree planted on [his] head”.
