Chorley's

Alice Liddell was just a 10-year-old living in Oxford in the 1860s when Charles Dodgson – better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll – spun a fantastical tale to her and her two sisters Edith and Lorina on a summer afternoon by the Thames.

The March 3-4 sale at Chorley’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Prinknash Abbey, Gloucestershire, was topped by a good example of Qing imperial needlework: a yellow ground silk and metal thread cushion cover.

Some of the earliest dolls’ houses are also referred to as baby houses, although they were more like detailed miniature houses and it is said that the aim was not play but to reflect riches.

On November 25, Gloucestershire auction house Chorley’s is selling the personal collection of Ray Leigh (1928-2025), one of the more significant figures in post-war British design.

A lot offering five WH Smith enamel advertising signs, c.1930, took the top price as memorabilia from one of the UK’s most enduring and recognisable retail brands came to auction.

Consigned from a private collection in Oxfordshire, a Wanli (1572-1620) mark and period blue and white jardinière sold for £40,000 at Chorley’s (25% buyer’s premium).

Fragment found in an attic with receipt for £25 now sells for £39,000 hammer price

Among the most eagerly contested lots in a recent sale at Chorley’s (23.5/15/12.5/10% buyer’s premium) was a collection of early 20th century tattoo ephemera.

Pre-17th century English oak carving tends to generate a certain amount of market excitement on the basis that much less of it survives.

Results from the Ombersley Court library reflect historical significance of the largely unseen works

A striking pair of William IV silver open salts by Paul Storr (London 1835) came for sale at Chorley’s (28.2% buyer’s premium inc VAT) latest biannual sale of Fine Jewellery, Silver, Gold and Watches.

“It was no surprise that a single-owner sale of noble provenance and with royal connections was such a success”, said Thomas Jenner-Fust.

Found in a country house in Gloucestershire, this letter written by Lord Byron (1788-1824) to Major John Cartwright (1740-1824) sold for £6000 at Chorley’s (28.2% buyer’s premium inc VAT) on March 20.