South-west England

Sir Bruno Welby (b.1928), a member of both the English Ceramic Circle and the French Porcelain Society, has bought European porcelain since the 1950s.

The Sir Bruno Welby collection (see main story in this edition) sold at Woolley & Wallis shone the spotlight on two familiar names from the early English porcelain literature: Jefferyes Hamett O’Neale (1719/20-97) and Fidelle Duvivier (1740-after 1796).

Mikaela and Roger Boon’s well-supported biannual vintage fair in the village of Wilton, near Salisbury, has its first outing of the year on Saturday, March 1, in the Michael Herbert Hall.

A deceased estate in Dorset that yielded a notable collection of Old Masters provided a fillip to Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne’s latest mixed-category auction.

The Arabian Knights model of Princess Badoura is best known as the largest figure from the Royal Doulton HN series.

A signed copy of Novello’s original octavo edition of Edward Elgar’s The Kingdom appeared in Plymouth Auction Rooms’ (20% buyer’s premium) New Year’s Day Collectors timed online sale.

The Royal Copenhagen ‘Danish National Costumes’ series designed by sculptor and modeller Carl Martin-Hansen was produced between 1906-25.

Even when set against the standards of royal pageantry, the crowning of George IV at Westminster Abbey on July 19, 1821, was a lavish affair.

On February 6 Woolley & Wallis is selling the Sir Bruno Welby collection of European porcelain. Estimates across 350 lots cover an affordable range from £50 to £2500 with the group as a whole expected to fetch around £100,000.

In terms of Modern British pictures sold around the country over the last year, a number of highlights came late in the day.

The estimate of £1000-1500 reflected the condition of an Elizabethan ‘Great Bible’ offered at Cotswold firm Wotton Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium).

The Leicester engineer Robert Crawford Johnson (1882-1937) registered the design for the cube teapot in 1916.

A scarce First World War recruiting poster proclaiming Irishmen Avenge the Lusitania has sold to a London museum as part of a large collection offered at Dorset saleroom Onslows (29% buyer’s premium inc VAT).

The silver sale at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on February 4-5 includes this Indian silver inkstand by Hamilton & Co.