UK

When an Irish antiques sleuth paid under £200 on eBay for what appeared to be a cigar case, information about its origin was sketchy at best.

A US-based vendor cashed in when a portrait by Sir William Orpen (1878-1931) of his lover Evelyn St George sold at Sotheby’s for more than double the amount it had fetched less than four months earlier at a New Jersey auction.

A Dickin Medal – the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross – is expected to reach £30,000-40,000 at coin and medal auction specialist Morton & Eden in London on December 4.

Although the size of the collecting audience is changing - and the arrival or departure of just one or two committed buyers can make a significant difference to prices - British provincial wares can command decent prices.

Prior to the 16th century, tempera, a mix of egg and pigment, was the method of choice for most artists.

A collection of miner’s lamps at Bamfords (24.75% buyer’s premium) in Derby included a pair of patent lamps by William Purdy.

The Autumn Auction at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (26/25% buyer’s premium) in Exeter included an array of unusual objects from the collection of the late Christopher Hawkings.

The hubbub that is the Giant Shepton Flea has been run by veteran fair organiser Sue Ede and her family for nearly 25 years.

Artists who had been achieving modest levels of success are catching up with the help of young collectors

In his magnus opus Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition, 1883, Thomas Holbein Hendley (1847-1917) documents what he called “a new and most interesting style of engraved silver plate developed in Alwar”.

Dressing table sets are among the most frequently surviving elements of late 17th century hollowware.