South-east England

An intriguing portrait of a black man in the uniform of a military bandsman and wearing a Waterloo medal drew strong competition after emerging at an auction in East Sussex.

The production of carved and painted pine toys in Erzgebirge, Bavaria, became a thriving cottage industry.

A bust-length study, thought to be a self-portrait by Mary Beale (1633-99) from the early 1660s, sold above estimate at a recent sale at Parker Fine Art Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).

Pictured here is definitely one of the more unusual lots to feature in ATG recently.

When Liverpool FC played their first-ever Football League fixture in the second division in September 1893 the left-back was a Scot called Duncan McLean (1868-1941).

It was overshadowed by the James Bond doll when it was released in 1966 and was granted a shorter production run, but the Kissy Suzuki doll from the film 'You Only Live Twice' was star of the show at C&T Auctioneers.

This month enthusiasts can get an auction taster of a sporting archive ranked as among the very best

Pictures by the Dutch artist Henriette Ronner-Knip (1821- 1909) are pretty abundant on the market but the considerable popularity of her characterful feline studies means they are invariably a valuable proposition.

A recent sale at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (26% buyer’s premium) in Exeter included a late 15th century Italian manuscript that is thought to be a codex unicus.

Booming regional auction house points to experience and contacts as key to source high calibre works

The antiques, collectables and decorative arts fairs run by Jackie Edwards of ACVR Events in the centre of the Hampshire town of Romsey involve just one location but five, inside and outside.

Four items including an Irish harp and William Morris designs boasted a family connection to the artist

“The Long Range Desert Group were masters of navigation and one of Britain’s most famous special forces. They owed much of their success to the scientific talents of their first commander, Major Ralph Bagnold, whose sun-compass invention revolutionised desert travel.” (National Army Museum.)

Two examples of substantial model presentation cannon came up at different salerooms recently.