Henry Aldridge & Son

The highlight of the sale of British and Continental Ceramics and Glass at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes on September 23 was this exceptional south Staffordshire enamel and gilt metal snuff box, c.1765-70.

Such messages from second-class passengers on the liner are some of the rarest to be offered at auction

It was a long, long summer of football – both in terms of the World Cup and the auctions that ran alongside the exhausting, extended extravaganza with a deeply disappointing final game.

An item of great interest for me was the small pocket knife that was recently sold together with its own story from the Titanic disaster* [see Previews, ATG No 2739].

Two years after a Wiltshire auction house set a record for Titanic memorabilia with ‘the watch recovered from the body of John Jacob Astor’ at £900,000, another timekeeper making precisely the same claim has sold in Chicago for $800,000 (£592,000).

The unknown maker of this commemorative creamware mug produced for the coronation of King George IV seems to have been in a rush.

Two years after a Wiltshire auction house set a record for Titanic memorabilia with “the watch recovered from the body of John Jacob Astor”, another timekeeper making precisely the same claim is coming to market.

A new sale for the ceramics and glass department at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes is coming soon.

Luxurious interiors, plush fittings, ornate signs and stylish promotion provide a plethora of entry points

Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes is establishing a dedicated ceramics and glass department, after appointing specialist valuer and cataloguer Clare Durham.

The AMI Continental II jukebox appeared in 1962, a time when space race excitement was gripping the US.

Now famous for a career of filling stadiums as one of the biggest and most successful bands in the world, Pink Floyd played more humble venues back in the day.

A postcard letter written by a survivor of the Titanic disaster sold for £230,000 (£300,000 with premium included) at Henry Aldridge & Son last month – a record for a letter related to the disaster.

In last week’s news story about auction house overall sales totals for 2024 (ATG No 2679) we said that the highest-value objects sold in the UK by any regional auction house last year were two Antonine over-lifesize busts of empresses which hammered at £600,000 each at Lyon & Turnbull.

Lanchester Road in County Durham is a route leading eventually into the village of that name, surrounded by fields but essentially unremarkable.