UK

Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) designed two electroplated claret or water jugs for Elkington & Co of Birmingham in 1885 – both of them daring designs inspired by vessels from antiquity.

It has been a busy season for ornithological favourite Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935) with a number of quality pictures previously sold by leading dealers reappearing at auction and attracting keen interest.

Given that most antique furniture at auction tends to be good value only for the buyer these days, one can perhaps understand why it occasionally does not always receive the attention it once merited from auctioneers and valuers. As a result, occasionally a special item slips through.

Among the Charles Tunnicliffe works drawing the most attention at Halls’ sale on September 15 (see main story) were pictures bought by the vendor directly from the artist’s family, with whom they were acquainted.

This autumn, galleries Willoughby Gerrish and Tomasso have joined forces to hold a ‘conversation in stone’ between the Contemporary sculpture of Emily Young (b.1951) and a selection of antique works.

This earthenware charger was painted by Catherine Sparkes (1842-1910), a genre, flower painter and illustrator who made a significant contribution to the development of faience pottery at Doulton Lambeth.

Twin events returning to London park generate encouraging overseas interest

Illustrated from drawings made by William Gibb, printed under his supervision and signed by the author, George Petree, one of 16 special copies of Dundee, its Quaint and Historic Old Buildings that were printed on Japanese paper in 1895 made a far higher than expected result at auction.

It was not to high-end purist tastes, but ballet pioneer’s collection reeled in eager bidders

Aided by strong American bidding action, the collection of Andrew Crawforth, the late Portobello Road trader and leading authority on early metalware, turned base metal into gold when all 431 lots – offered wihtout reserve – sold at Bonhams’ (27.5% buyer’s premium) Edinburgh sale.

Stand-out cartographic lots sold in Gloucestershire include a string of early rarities

A “vanishingly rare” oil by Barnett Freedman (1901-58) showing a newly liberated Normandy town shortly after D-Day is among the star exhibits at the Winter Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia in London.

Andrew Muir bought his first piece of Clarice Cliff – a small and damaged candlestick – for £25 from a pub auction in 1989. Today he is an established dealer in 20th century ceramics and is showing his diverse stock at the latest edition of the Winter Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia (November 2-7).

Excellent selection of the artist’s wildlife works had been wrapped up and kept pristine.

Underground or overground, London travel memorabilia amounted to a £95,000 hammer total at Catherine Southon (24% buyer’s premium).

It’s toy time at Sandown Park on Saturday, November 13, where Barry Potter and family hold the largest of their regular vintage toy fairs with 500 tables staffed by more than 300 dealers.

Closed for almost two decades, a shop in the Cotswolds town of Dursley has been brought to life as an art and antiques business.