Features

North Yorkshire saleroom Tennants is selling this Kemp & Co field camera with ‘tropical’ mahogany casing and brass fittings, with an estimate of £150-250.

It was supposedly as a result of a bet whether it was possible to make a camera that could fit into a cigarette packet that Noel Pemberton Billing (1881-1948) began work on a miniature, collapsible camera that would accept 35mm film.

The photographica department at Chiswick Auctions will be taking over the firm’s South Kensington gallery for the duration of May when highlights from the 19th & 20th Century Photography sale on May 24 will be on view.

By the 1850s, tourist travel to Middle East created strong demand for photographs as souvenirs.

The sale of Photographica & Cameras at Special Auction Services in Newbury on April 26 features this complete set of 'Tour Of The World' stereoviews by the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania.

The largest showground fairs are so extensive that it would be impossible to browse items on all the stands in one day. IACF’s Newark Antiques Fair, for example, is held on an 84-acre site with up to 2500 stands.

When Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger founded photo-sharing app Instagram in 2010 they probably did not expect that 12 years later it would have become a platform for selling antiques.

Dealer portals provide a handy online view of a selection of stock from a large number of traders. They offer a connection to dealers for both the buyer casually browsing from home and the buyer seeking a specific type of item.

Whereas buying at fairs often involves a heavy dose of serendipity, buying at auction tends to be a more focused and considered affair.

Art and antiques shops and galleries offer an enjoyable retail experience with a knowledgeable dealer.

Ask anyone about a special item they bought and they will usually start by telling you how they came to own it. Here the ATG team recounts the story of 15 purchases, each one for under £1000

At a mid or high-end art and antiques fair buyers can comfortably get round all the stands in a day and have time to browse, consider and discuss with expert dealers. Such events have a more relaxed and social vibe to them: dealers invite their clients along and hope to meet new buyers by attracting them onto their stands with eye-catching items and displays.

Antiques centres provide a treasure trove of objects from a wide array of dealers all under one roof and make a good destination for a trip that any antiques or vintage lover will enjoy.

This parcel gilt musical box decorated with a frieze of figures is by Stuart Devlin (London 1975).

This 22oz George II serving dish by Paul de Lamerie (London 1747) was formerly part of the service commissioned by Admiral George Anson (1697-1762).

The London firm Samuel Jackson seems to have specialised in mounting other materials in silver to produce wine-coolers.

The Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu sale at Dix Noonan Webb (25% buyer’s premium) in London on March 15 included more fine silver and enamel vesta cases by Sampson Mordan & Co to add to those sold by the firm in September 2021.

With more than 16,000 works on display, 'Art Treasures of Great Britain', held in a temporary iron-and-glass structure built in the Old Trafford area of Manchester in 1857, remains the largest art exhibition to be held in the UK.

Silver was the major strength of a recent two-day sale at Dreweatts (25% buyers’ premium). All bar one of the 549 lots got away to a hammer total tipping the £1m mark.

An example of 17th century hollowware appeared for sale at Dawsons (23% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead earlier this year.