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Quotes this week include reflections on an important guitar now going under the hammer and a rare, 500-year-old box.

The granddaughter of silver dealer George Paterson is to launch an antique fair in Tunbridge Wells in April to raise money for the hospice where her grandfather spent his last weeks.

Pub names can provide a snapshot of British history. Many years ago now, while subsisting on cheese on toast at a university hall of residence in south London, I was fascinated by the name of a nearby boozer called the George Canning.

ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week include a pencil collection, a rare candlestick and an Arts and Crafts brooch.

Contraptions from the past can be fascinating, whether designed to save time or entertain.

An unusual painting of a fishing boat by Egon Schiele (1890-1918) will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in London next month.

Collecting often leads to a certain obsession, as many enthusiasts with attics filled to burst or garages stuffed with boxes will admit. Take the example of a group now forming 700 lots to be dispersed at an Irish sale.

Here are five examples of modern jewellery that were sold yesterday in Birmingham. Earlier this week we previewed this auction. Now we review the hammer prices for the five items we chose.

The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of a James Bond Moonraker laser gun selling at an auction in the Midlands and a sardonyx cameo ring fetching 195-times top estimate in Yorkshire.

The University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries has acquired a rare 15th-century French Gothic coffer – one of the largest-surviving examples of a late medieval box used for transporting precious books.