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Bradbury’s Book of Hallmarks, revised edition 2002, published by the Sheffield Assay Office, Guardians Hall, 137 Portobello Road, Sheffield Sl 4DS. Tel: 0114 275 5111 Hardback £16 ISBN l872212026. Paperback ISBN 1872212034 £5.50

GOOD house contents sales, now a rarity in Britain, still crop up in Ireland and although the latest was a reversal of the usual reason for such events – the owners were actually moving back into the house rather than leaving it – Lissadell in Co. Sligo followed the familiar pattern of widespread general interest in pieces from ‘the big house’ and enthusiasm among people wishing to buy fresh-to- market pieces.

USA: THE second annual Cleveland Summer Antiques Show returns to Cleveland State University Convocation Center from August 2 to 4 with more than 150 dealers from across the US and Canada.

AN example of every Hornby Dublo model from 1948 until the Liverpool factory went out of business in 1964 will come for up auction as a single collection at Barry Potter Auctions in Rugby on July 18.

GERMANY: Round about the year 286AD times were very interesting in Britannia. Some small documents of this small and little known facet of British history appeared in the Lanz (15% buyer’s premium) sale in Munich on May 27.

Allen’s Authentication of Ancient Chinese Bronzes, by Anthony J. Allen, published by Allen’s Enterprises Ltd of Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand, www.allens.antiques.com and distributed in the UK by David Aldous-Cook: Reference Books on Antiques, Sutton, Surrey. Tel/fax: 0208 642 4842. ISBN 0473080451 £60hb

A zeal for collecting in an age of double glazing has created a strong market for pottery window rests, which have been freed from the domestic drudgery of keeping sash windows open and elevated to the mantelpiece as decorative works of art in their own rights.