UK

Dealer association BADA has introduced changes to the vetting committee of its fairs to “ensure independence”. While dealers can still hold vetting positions, the chairs of 16 specialist sub-committees must now be non-exhibitors.

When Alan Wardle’s niece searched online for family history she uncovered his father’s long-lost First World War presentation pocket watch coming up at auction.

Before the Iraq invasions in 1991 and 2003 Britain was involved in military operations in the region in both world wars.

Including, as it did, pieces from Alnwick Castle, an ‘attic sale’ based on the Duke of Northumberland’s home was guaranteed to generate more interest than many similarly titled auctions.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from November 20-December 1, 2018.

The new terrors of the First World War also encompassed gas. The initial major attack was launched on the Eastern Front by the Germans in January 1915, then on the Western Front at Ypres three months later against French colonial troops.

A large and handsome souvenir publication for the French liner SS Normandie was offered in a Mullock’s (20% buyer’s premium) sale of October 16.

If anything sums up the sense of slaughter that came from the British experience of the First World War and how that affected so many families, it is a lot coming up in Bonhams’ November 21 Medals, Bonds, Banknotes and Coins auction.

Spotlight on art offered at Bishton Hall on-site auction underlines appeal of a grand home.

As soon as the devastating power of machine guns in the First World War became clear, the British Army abandoned its earlier policy of attaching a section of just two guns to each infantry battalion or cavalry regiment.

Personal items from the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking impress among an illustrious array of names.

C&T Auctioneers’ (20% buyer’s premium) November 6 sale titled After the Great War Centenary also marked the final slice of a three-part offering of what specialist Matthew Tredwen called “one of the finest collections of First World War German militaria to have been sold at auction in the UK”.

Such was the scale of the Great War that the Cameronians regiment alone raised 27 battalions from 1914-18.

Although ubiquitous for much of the 20th century, electrical masterclocks regulating other timepieces in schools, hospitals, government buildings and factories are as yet among the least researched aspects of horology.

British Empire soldiers included more than a million Indian Army troops serving overseas.

The ‘heroic age’ of Polar Exploration coincided with the First World War. Shackleton’s perilous 1914-17 expedition was conducted against the backdrop of war in the northern hemisphere, while other earlier Polar explorers found themselves caught up in the conflict.

The organisers of Asian Art in London are to abandon the event’s ‘best objects’ award after doubt was cast on the authenticity of one of this year’s winners. The Danish auctioneer which won the award however is standing by the Yuan attribution for the flask after conducting a scientific test.

Two years ago we featured ex-paramedic Allun Davies and his business selling vintage luggage in the Gwent town of Pontypool.