UK

A feast of exhibitions awaits art and antiques lovers when they venture out to the country’s museums both big and small this year

A group of works by George Richmond (1809-96) offered at auction at the end of last year showed plenty of life remains in the market for the London-born painter.

Exhibitor at Welsh fair turned her passion for tokens into a sales success as part of her antiques business

Doulton figures and jugs depicting the famous and not-so-familiar include sought-after rarities

Little is known about Soiree Cigarettes or the firm behind them and it is only thanks to the collectable cards it issued in Mauritius that its name appears in web search results today.

Once renowned for achievements wearing goalkeeping gloves, Pat Jennings (b.1945) achieved an auction white-glove result when his memorabilia collection sold out at Budds (24% buyer’s premium).

One standout offering at The Decorative Fair this month unites two pieces of early 20th century technology: the dreadnought battleship and the mass production of the crisp.

As ruler of an empire on which the sun never set, Queen Victoria adopted the Indian practice of giving Kashmiri shawls as gifts to visiting dignitaries and coming-of-age and wedding presents to her friends at court.

While not instantly familiar to many non-American readers, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (1881-1944) has never been out of print and its many reprints have sold over a million copies in the US alone.

Paul Parker will be fondly remembered by many England fans of a certain vintage for his role in the 1990 World Cup campaign (ignore the deflection over Peter Shilton for West Germany’s semi-final opener).

As covered in ATG No 2723, memorabilia associated with the golden age of luxury ocean liners is sought after by collectors.

A rare Georgian brass microscope by Edinburgh maker John Clark will join an important Dutch collection after its sale in the Cotswolds.

The most important of only 23 known surviving copies of the first – and subsequently withdrawn – June 1865 edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been given jointly to Christ Church Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries.

An original illustration for one of the most entertaining works on rare book collecting hammered for £15,000 to lead Mallams’ latest Modern Art & Design auction.

An ‘exceptional and newly discovered’ Mamluk manuscript copy of an Arabic text on hippiatry (equine medicine) was the highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s latest Islamic and Indian art sale in London.

An extensive collection of art, antiques and silver from Corby Castle, one of Cumbria’s most historically important mansion houses, will go under the hammer in a three-day sale at Tennants from January 22-24.