South-east England

The French artist Alexandre-François Desportes (1661-1743) spent much of his early career as a portraitist, including a notable spell working at the court of King Jan Sobieski of Poland.

A recent sale at Claydon Auctioneers (21.5% buyer’s premium) in Buckinghamshire included a suite of aluminium bedroom furniture by the HG Hawker Engineering Company.

Pulling out a suitcase from under a bed during a probate valuation, Dawsons’ valuer could scarcely have guessed what they would find hidden inside.

Large urban landscapes, lorry parks, shantytowns and thronging markets feature heavily in the work of Ghanian painter Ablade Glover (b.1934).

Aboriginal painter Namatjira’s evocative Australian work makes rare appearance in a British saleroom

A medieval walrus ivory gaming piece, recently found by a Gorringe’s valuer in a sock drawer, comes for sale in Lewes on October 8. As part of the Interiors & Decorative Arts Sale it has an estimate of £10,000-15,000

Much of the market for ‘country house’ antiques is now in the hands of UK’s regional auctioneers. Here we review two recent bellwether sales.

Chairs and sofas by Howard & Sons are a pricey niche market these days, largely immune to the varying fortunes of the wider market for Victorian and Edwardian furniture.

A popular two-day biannual antiques and vintage fair run since 2017 in a large glasshouse at Coolings Garden Centre at Knockholt in Kent is growing in exhibitor numbers.

The highlight of the sale of Fine Clocks, Barometers and Scientific Instruments at Dreweatts was this French mantel clock with orrery c.1810. Although unsigned, it is thought to be by the talented Paris clockmaker Antide Janvier (1751-1835).

One of the most popular fairs in the Grandma’s Attic seven-venue portfolio across southern England is in Woking.

Aubreys, the recently launched auction house holding sales at Loseley Park, Guildford, is offering a single-owner collection of Qianlong period painted enamels on September 26.

Myrtle’s Courtyard on the 2000-acre Hampton Estate, near Farnham in Surrey, is a cluster of Victorian buildings, originally the Hampton dairy farm and milking parlour, which is now used for events.

The latest sale of Objects of Vertu at Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) in West Sussex included two impressive examples of mid-20th century Australian goldsmithing.

Along with the Soviet T34, the Sherman was regarded as one of the best all-round tanks of the Second World War.

Two views of the same stretch of Cornish coastline by Arthur Hughes (1832-1915) both attracted interest but made contrasting sums at a recent sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium).

Pictured here is a detail from an 18th century parchment roll map documenting the primary roads on a journey from London to Durham through the counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Durham.

An attractive lot catalogued as “a fine and rare pair of 18th century European porcelain flower pots probably Meissen or Sèvres … with porcelain flowers. 7in (17 cm) high” appeared at Hampshire saleroom Hannam’s (23% buyer’s premium) on August 20.