East of England

This Kangxi (1662-1722) period blue and white brush pot was offered at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium) in Stansted Mountfitchet.

Perhaps established as early as 1735, the Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh holds claim to be the oldest golfing society in the world.

The Aynsley factory’s reputation for good quality, unadventurous bone china tea and coffee wares made it the safe choice for many British households.

A rare work by Sarah Biffin (1784-1850), the early 19th century artist born without limbs, sold for £9000 at Sworders on December 15.

A sight increasingly uncommon at auction – the trade outbidding private buyers on key lots of Modern art – occurred a number of times at Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest sale in this category.

Edition of Shakespeare’s works from 1663 heads varied selection in Cambridge.

Toy dealers Leon and Kevin McLoughlin-Smith took over the running of the popular monthly Norwich Brocante at the end of 2019.

A view of the town of Vence in the south of France by Roger Fry (1866-1934) caught the eye of several bidders at Cheffins (24.5% buyer’s premium).

If you ever encounter the pub quiz question ‘who is the smallest footballer ever to represent England at a senior level’ just remember an FA Cup winner’s medal sold at sporting specialist auction house Knights (20% buyer’s premium).

In Fairs, Markets & Centres in ATG No 2516 we featured a story about 'The Venus of Meudon', a 1.9m tall sculpture by the Dadaist sculptor Jean Arp. Owned by dealers Karin and John Haines, it stands in a commanding spot at the Melford Antiques, Interiors and Lifestyle Centre in Suffolk.

Two very different lots shared the highest bid honours in a September 30 sale held in Norfolk. A manuscript recipe book dating from the late 17th/early 18th century onwards was, as such, accomplished in several different hands.

A dab hand at Christmas shows, Andrew Singleton of Suffolk House Antiques in Yoxford has held one annually for over 25 years.

In ATG No 2502 we mentioned silver dealer Mark Nelson-Griffiths, who stands at a number of fairs countrywide including the Peterborough Festival of Antiques, Lomax Fairs in Southwold, IACF Alexandra Palace and Aztec Events at the Norfolk Showground.

The V&A loses out in £23,000 bidding battle for Prince Albert’s drawings of the diamond and sapphire coronet he designed for Queen Victoria.

Given their relatively small metal content, many silver-mounted ‘tigerware’ beer jugs survived the great bullion melting of the English Civil War, making them perhaps the most recognised example of late 16th century silver today.

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

Estimated at £200-300 in the belief they were later copies, a pair of Sèvres dishes sold for £9500 at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium).