UK

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Two sporting ‘firsts’ are being marked by lots coming up in separate auctions this month.

Among the lots catching bidders’ eyes in the last few months were a number of intriguing portraits that came up at sales in south-west England.

Copy of his first book was a later gift from Sir John Heygate to Tarka the Otter author

Collecting 18th century English porcelain is still a popular pursuit – but there’s no doubt that the core collecting audience is smaller than it once was.

The most desirable pieces of Lowestoft porcelain are typically the documentary pieces decorated with East Anglian scenes.

This Worcester teapot, offered for sale at Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) in Crewkerne, dates from the first decade of factory production: c.1755-57.

A small portrait of a woman that was pitched at £100-150 drew a bidding battle that carried it over 10 times estimate.

Rolf van Kiaer runs web-based antiquities dealership Helios Gallery with Samantha Neal.

Aboriginal shields come in two basic types: broad shields used for deflecting projectiles and the narrow, compact parrying shields used in close contact fighting.

A selection of Oceanic hardwood clubs and shields has come for sale at Sworders in Essex on November 9-10 as part of the auction of objects from the collection of dealer Jan Ellen Finch (1952-2021) of Finch & Co.

B2B Events has a run of upcoming events this month including its two-day Detling antiques, vintage and collectors’ fair at the Kent County Showground on Saturday and Sunday, September 10-11.

The Crimean War inspired many Staffordshire flatback figures - including this rare model made to mark the end of the conflict in 1856.

When Domenico Venuti became director of the Naples porcelain factory in 1779, he broke radically with any lingering Rococo sentiments and embraced the new neoclassical style sweeping Europe.

Over 220 items (and counting) are in the forthcoming Catalogue 119 – the latest offering from Covent Garden dealership Grosvenor Prints.

Nestled in 400 acres of land in Hampshire is Heckfield Place, a Georgian manor house masterfully restored and renovated into a luxury hotel.

'Frank Auerbach: The Sitters' at Piano Nobile includes over 40 paintings and drawings with around a third of the works for sale.

The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas sale at Woolley & Wallis on September 21 includes 270 lots from the collection of tribal and pre-Columbian art assembled by Romy Rey of Richmond, Surrey.

Organised by Tricorn Fairs, the biannual Bristol Fine Antique Arms Fair returns on Sunday, September 11, at a new venue: the Aztec West Hotel and Spa.

A recent Welsh Sale, conducted by Rogers Jones (24/15% buyer’s premium) in Cardiff included a consignment of Swansea and Nantgarw that came by descent from the preeminent Welsh porcelain collector Sir Leslie Joseph.