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Helen Larson was a keen collector of costume, especially pieces with historical associations. She spent half a century building up a collection that encompassed early costume, couture and pieces with historical or celebrity provenance, helped by her friend Doris Langley Moore who founded the Costume Museum in Bath.

Creative flair combined with a maverick approach to metalwork set Louis Osman (1914-96) apart from other British designers of the post-war era.

When John Schaeffer visited the pre-Raphaelite exhibition at the Tate Gallery in 1984 it changed the course of his art enthusiasm.

When the opportunity arose to sell a small group of pictures by obscure local artist Bernard Myers (1925-2007), Krassi Kuneva of Chiswick Auctions (15/12% buyer’s premium) seized the chance.

This portrait of an elderly gentleman tickled the taste buds of bidders when it was offered at Heliers Auction (18% buyer’s premium) in Lancashire.

Three more modestly valued works drawing attention at recent regional sales works at regional salerooms below £500 including a still life by Sudbury artist Paul Earee.

Running to 600 lots and achieving £560,000 hammer, a recent London sale incorporated a wide range of collecting fields, from Dickensian theatrical ephemera to children’s books and all things Irish.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

MADAM – The government’s ill-conceived attack on antique ivory will likely mean that two pieces in my home – a 19th century Cantonese puzzle-ball chess set and my wife’s Corpus Christi acquired shortly after our marriage 50 years ago – now have no value in probate.

In the early 1920s, the artist Dora Carrington (1893-1932) began creating a series of foil glass paintings.

In this second part of ATG’s review of the various events held during Paris drawings week, we turn the spotlight onto one particular medium: the pastel portrait.

Betty Mendes, who has died peacefully aged 90, was one of the leading lights in the field of antique lace and textiles.

An 18in (45cm) figure of Shiva Vinadhara c.12th century – £220,000.

“They were as bold, diverse, and brave as René Lalique and his peers had been in the 1900s, bucking convention and tradition to change the landscape of British jewellery.”

David R Russell, a colossus among collectors of antique woodworking tools, has died aged 82.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period 12-18 April, 2018. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

A sale devoted to 700 lots of magic memorabilia is to be held by Potter & Potter Auctions in Chicago on April 28.

MADAM – Last year readers may recall a Victorian presentation ‘ivory tusk’ dinner gong was removed from display in one of the Royal Collection exhibitions.

This 19th century French walnut chest of drawers, offered at Ewbank’s (22.5% buyer’s premium) Surrey rooms, sold at £5500.