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Laws relating to antique firearms and bladed weapons are set to change in the UK this year. Dealers, auctioneers and collectors will be affected by both the offensive weapons bill and an amendment to the Policing and Crime Act 2017 which are set to become law in 2019.

Growth in the Modern and Impressionist art market outpaced that of post-war and contemporary art in 2018, according to the latest global auction data from Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips.

This exceptional candlestick belongs to a small group of cast and enamelled brass wares made in the second half of the 17th century. All are distinguished by their method of production: unlike champlévé or cloisonné decoration, the enamelled fields were cast in the mould.

Two single-owner collections built up over lifetimes were well received at Canterbury Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium) on February 5-6.

Good times at the Oxford rooms of Mallams (20% buyer’s premium), when all bar one of 56 clocks got away almost all going comfortably above estimates.

Tony Parkinson, who died suddenly just after Christmas, at the age of 75, was a much-respected and well-loved book dealer in Southport for over 40 years. He opened Parkinson’s Books in its current location on Lord Street in 1981, specialising in antiquarian books, of which he had an encyclopaedic knowledge.

Collectables untouched by Byronmania but selling well at the Harold Ward auction at Mellors & Kirk on February 6-7 included a 19th century ‘Grand Tour’ Italian alabaster model of the Piazza del Duomo, Pisa, and a gold-mounted malacca walking cane engraved to the pommel with the 1816-37 royal arms.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales below £1700, including a a Francis Cyril Rose self-portrait.

The sale of two great collections at auction – one in London, the other in New York – has highlighted the ebbs and flows of the market for early British pottery and furniture.

With the great country house contents sales of the past now largely a distant memory, single-owner collection sales have become the next-best thing.

The best Egyptian antiquities now engender much more than mere scholastic fervour but, for the most part, humbler objects remain eminently affordable.

Drawing interest from the US was a portrait of a fierce-looking Scottish laird by John Pettie (1839-93).

Alfies Antiques Market has paid tribute to one of its dealers, Paola Noé, who died on January 19.

This 2ft (60cm) high Charles II needlework looking glass worked with figures and fantastical beasts emblematic of the seasons was estimated at $10,000-15,000 but sold at $80,000 (£61,500) in the Vogel collection auction at Sotheby's New York.

Three lots selling for multi-estimate sums at regional auctions in the UK including a Staffordshire slipware honey pot from c.1700 that drew demand at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury.

Billed as a private London collection, the February 5 sale at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) betrayed a single owner with a good eye and wide-ranging enthusiasms.

A little-known work by a prolific Newlyn School artist became the top lot of Scottish saleroom Elgin Auction Centre’s (15% buyer’s premium) February 6 sale.

Late 18th-century works for children combine juvenile diversion with moral instruction.