South-east England

A tiny Oxfam shop in Headington, Oxfordshire, was celebrating after a set of 12 books dropped off by an anonymous donor later sold at Bonhams for £13,000 (£16,640 with premium).

The average total footfall for the annual three-day 'New Forest & Hampshire County Show' held at The Showground in Brockenhurst comes in at a gigantic 85,000 to 90,000.

A specialist antiques shop in Southampton, a city rich in maritime heritage, is set to close at the end of August after 50 years of trading.

A recent sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium) was led by this example of early English furniture: an oak aumbry or dole cupboard.

Artist survived a shipwreck but then spent a decade creating portraits and views of the local landscape

Oxfordshire sale includes minaudière designed as an alternative to traditional handbags - plus a more conventional ‘French Jazz Age’ evening bag

A highlight of the The Dolls’ House, Doll, Teddy Bear and Toy sale taking place at Special Auction Services on June 24-26 is a mid-17th century wooden doll, just 5½in (14cm) high.

A striking household cavalry officer’s 1817 pattern helmet offered at Antony Cribb (25% buyer’s premium) had the considerable bonus of retaining its “very rare” japanned storage tin with the owner’s name legible.

A strong selection of 18th and 19th century British helmets impressed at East Sussex saleroom Wallis & Wallis (24% buyer’s premium) on May 29, many bringing strong four-figure sums well above estimate.

A George III cast bronze two-pounder sold on June 3 came from a group of 12 cast for a commission by second Viscount William Courtenay, most probably for his private yacht Dolphin in 1775. The cannon was later removed to Powderham Castle, Devon.

Midlands-based Richard Burtonshaw, organiser of glass and ceramic fairs under the banner Premier Fairs, is moving south for the second of his three events this year.

Pictured below are three fine silver and enamel cigarette cases dating from the turn of the 20th century sold at auction in recent weeks.

Now famous for a career of filling stadiums as one of the biggest and most successful bands in the world, Pink Floyd played more humble venues back in the day.

Traders give positive feedback for an event that consistently gets the summer season off to a good start

“This has been the biggest single cataloguing job of my career - an extraordinary experience,” said John Silke, vinyl specialist of Surrey saleroom Ewbank’s (25% buyer’s premium).

As part of a Fine Art auction in Surrey on June 25, Catherine Southon is selling a collection of British art exhibition posters from the estate of Professor Zacron (Robert Drew), the maverick artist best known for the album cover of Led Zeppelin III.