South-west England


Easter Island ornament

Scarce Easter Island carving bought for £100 takes £60,000 at auction

28 August 2026

A rare Easter Island pectoral ornament bought at auction earlier this year for under £100 sold for £60,000 at an online sale held by Salisbury’s Woolley & Wallis on August 20.

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Lewis Carroll in a social whirl

28 August 2026

Family archive features poem written by Alice author for the well-connected owner of a scrapbook

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Taking steps to enjoy Cornwall

28 August 2026

Enys House and Gardens in Penryn, west Cornwall, is the slightly mysterious backdrop to Nicki and Ralph Retallack’s biannual antiques and decorative fair with the second this year running on Saturday and Sunday, September 26-27.

Hilary Finzi

Letter from cellist Jacqueline du Pré among personal possessions coming to auction

25 August 2026

A copy of a handwritten letter in which 21-year-old Jacqueline du Pré tells her mother she has finally decided to dedicate herself to playing the cello is part of a collection of the famed musician’s personal possessions to be auctioned.

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Bath Book Fair: Beautiful city, bountiful business

21 August 2026

Joint ABA and PBFA books fair in Bath praised as ideal for meeting customers and fellow traders

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Isfahan to Islington: tiles ended up with ‘almost legendary’ dealer Jack Webb

21 August 2026

Safavid examples from the north London dealer's collection find their latest homes after palace demolition

Mounted head of a thylacine

‘The discovery of a lifetime’: taxidermy ‘fox head’ turns out to be extinct Tasmanian rarity

18 August 2026

A taxidermy ‘fox head’ bought in an antiques market for just £50 has been described as ‘the discovery of a lifetime’ after fetching £50,000 at an auction near Bristol.

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Massive Moorcroft marvel was made for the British Empire Exhibition in 1924

14 August 2026

A Moorcroft Moonlit Blue Landscape vase made for the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley in 1924 led the Design sale at Lay’s (21% buyer’s premium) in Penzance on July 23.

In The Orchard by Alfred Parsons

Healthy harvest: Alfred Parsons bucolic views bring bidding at separate salerooms

12 August 2026

Large views of the British countryside, garden paintings and botanical studies are the most popular works when it comes to Somerset-born Alfred Parsons (1847-1920).

Maquette for George Vulliamy’s sphinx

Maquette made for the Embankment sphinx emerges in Gloucestershire sale

07 August 2026

When the ancient Egyptian obelisk known as Cleopatra’s Needle was erected on the Victoria Embankment in 1877, it was set on a massive granite foundation and shortly afterwards flanked by a pair of bronze sphinxes.

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Antiques fairs organiser Sue Ede: 'Make sure you treat the trade well'

07 August 2026

Looking after trade buyers can be key to the success of a fair.

Mizzen Topsail Luggers by Alfred Wallis

Alfred Wallis painting owned by potter Bernard Leach sails away at Lay’s

04 August 2026

The exceptional provenance of a trademark Alfred Wallis (1855-1942) painting gave it a commercial boost when it appeared at Lay’s (21% buyer’s premium) latest sale of Cornish Art in Penzance.

Portrait of Laura Knight by Harold Knight

Harold and Laura Knight: A husband-and-wife duo with major saleroom presence

29 July 2026

A portrait of the artist Laura Knight (1874-1970) by her husband Harold Knight (1874-1961) sounds like the kind of work always likely to generate interest at auction. And this is especially so if it happens to be previously unrecorded and offered with an inviting estimate.

Titanic and Olympic tickets

Titanic rarity: White Star tickets fly above estimate in Dorset auction

27 July 2026

A sale at Duke’s in Dorchester this week included two tickets related to the launching of two of the Olympic class liners in Belfast in 1911.

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Cheap and cheerful White Star Line souvenir now worth £1600 at auction

24 July 2026

Britannic was the third and last of the White Star Line’s Olympic class of ocean liners.

19th century giltwood console table

Items from Sargent family collection consigned to Chorley’s

22 July 2026

A collection of furniture, silver, works of art, carpets and books from the estate of artist John Singer Sargent’s grand-niece will be offered at Chorley’s on September 15.

Everest1 4

Auction offers what is believed to be an account of the conquest of Mount Everest written by Sir Edmund Hillary for The Times

17 July 2026

One of the most enduring and as yet unresolved questions in mountaineering and exploration is ‘who was the first man to stand on top of Mount Everest?’

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Eyewitness view of an Arctic expedition

17 July 2026

Joseph Sherer entered the Royal Navy in 1811 aboard the Defiance. In 1819 he joined Hecla under Captain George Frederick Lyon taking part in Sir William Parry’s Arctic expeditions.

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With this vintage frock I thee wed

17 July 2026

Dealers say the ‘beauty’ of choosing older dresses for your big day is you can ‘shop across a range of styles’

Two tempters for a visit to a small Somerset town

17 July 2026

The small town of Frome in Somerset features regularly in regional lists of the best places to live in the UK.

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