UK

Selling the contents of historic estates, especially those in the same family for several generations, will often throw up surprises.

In a category of its own – and bringing one of the highest prices at the Tennants autumn sale – was a brass, tooth-edge dog collar engraved Rt. Honble Lord Byron.

Barry Potter is surely the king of toy fairs: he and his sons Ellis and Simon run toy, train and model collectors’ fairs in seven venues across the country – in Surrey, Bolton, Coventry, Doncaster, Birmingham, Stafford and Rugby.

“This year the Malvern Flea has been the prize in our portfolio,” says Helen Yourston, director of B2B Events.

Shapes Auctioneers based in Edinburgh is to close.

Two examples of the 19th century European craftsmen’s love of mother of pearl shone at Hannam’s (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Selborne on November 15.

For a relatively brief period during the 19th century, small silver boxes decorated with British landmarks found an eager following among the honeymooners and day-trippers of Georgian and Victorian England.

When is parachuting in a leader from outside an industry a good idea?

An Old Master portrait of an elderly Stuart woman took £13,200 at Mander Auctioneers (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Suffolk on November 18.

For its 'London Art Week Winter' exhibition, The Weiss Gallery pairs historic painting with contemporary accessories and miniatures.

Dealers are often on the move. Here, ATG takes another look at some of the dealers that have recently taken up new premises (or are planning to do so) around the UK and beyond. They range from former auctioneers moving into dealing and London expansion to first steps in the UK and Monaco.

Two big names dominated the 20th Century Decorative Arts sale held by Gildings (15% buyer’s premium) in Market Harborough on November 7.

British bee books formed an unusual feature of a November 8 sale held by Dominic Winter (19.5% buyer’s premium).

Tom Edwards is director of Abbott and Holder, a picture dealer and conservator established in 1936. The gallery is in London’s Museum Street across from the British Museum, and specialises in British watercolours, drawings, prints and oil paintings.

Topping a recent sale at Boulton & Cooper in Malton, near York was this unusual Georgian miniature elbow chair with shell-carved knees and cresting rail.

George Orwell is the focus of a first look at a November 7 Sotheby’s (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) sale of books from The Library of an English Bibliophile, the seventh in that series to have been held since 2010. Orwell’s books made a significant contribution to the overall total.

During the 17th century, European craftsmen were captivated by lacquer ware imported from Asia.

Before Natalie Smith opened the Woodbridge Antiques Centre 10 years ago in the pretty Suffolk town, she told ATG that she was given a great piece of advice: never compromise on quality and presentation.

Sometimes described as the wireless which saved Ekco, the radical Bakelite circular Model AD65 radio designed by Wells Coates in the 1933 sold in its tens of thousands. It restored the fortunes of the Essex factory after a disastrous fire in 1932.

During the 1950s a revival in UK printmaking took root. As dedicated print studios were set up, etching, lithography and screenprinting flourished, and in the 1960s, as critics celebrated the ‘rebirth’ of the print, Marlborough Fine Art entered the print publishing market.