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When, where, how – ie when was it made? Where was it made? How was it made? And how much is it worth? These are the four fundamental questions which every reputable antique dealer has to ask when he/she looks at an object.

An old photo of a former owner and a memorial inscription will seldom add commercial value to a Victorian locket. However, the example by the Phillips Brothers of Cockspur Street offered by Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) in Oxford on March 21 carried the inscription 'Julia Hay Norman, Died 3rd October 1873'.

A restituted portrait of a German electoral prince by Lucas Cranach the Elder, missing for nearly 80 years, has sold for $6.6m (£4.7m).

Among the flurry of sales providing a welcome spring tonic for the trade generally, two weighted heavily towards furniture provided welcome encouragement.

If a 74% selling rate points to continued selectivity among furniture bidders, the hammer total of £534,000 achieved at Dreweatts’ (24% buyer’s premium) 275-lot Fine Furniture and Works of Art sale showed they also have money to spend – “a trend we’ve seen for a while now”, said auctioneer Ben Brown.

Brought into a free valuation day held at Bishop’s Cleve, near Cheltenham, a copy of Eric Ravilious’ High Street sold on March 27 at what would appear to be a record sum in a Derbyshire sale.

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.”