South-west England

One of the most popular fleas in the country has been very busy this year, both with the numbers of stallholders and visitors, says the organiser.

While the ‘peak season’ for Old Master sales in the UK traditionally falls twice a year in early July and December, coinciding with the flagship sales in the London rooms, notable lots nevertheless appear throughout the year at auctions around the country.

One of two texts in a single volume revealed after eager bidding to be by Hungarian Jesuit

The Ancient Order of Froth Blowers was a British charitable organisation established in the decade after the First World War ‘to foster the noble Art and gentle and healthy Pastime of froth blowing among Gentlemen of-leisure and ex-Soldiers’.

Lawrences’ (30% buyer’s premium) summer sales series in Crewkerne included a Charles II period stumpwork casket.

The precursor to the Woolley & Wallis Fine Jewellery sale on October 25 is a single-owner catalogue devoted to the collection of Jean Louis Chameroy (1946-2020).

By the mid-18th century, as the fashion for the pannier dress reached its peak, some women wore dresses measuring 7ft (2.13m) wide.

Jewellery from the estate of Ella Naper (1886-1972) was offered at Lay’s (21% buyer’s premium) in Lanner, Cornwall on August 10-11.

This elegant Victorian clear glass claret jug of neoclassical design featured in the July 27 sale at Kinghams (25/18/15% buyer’s premium).

Testing the market for still-lifes by Bloomsbury school favourite Duncan Grant (1885-1978), a painting by the artist emerged fresh from a notable source in Somerset.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Dated and inscribed and royal portrait subjects are the most desirable classes of early delftware

The glass and ceramics sales held by Woolley & Wallis usually include several designated single-owner collections and properties and the September 19 auction is no exception

Spotlight on a selection of auction lots made using unusual or exotic materials

This 19th century carved Siena marble inkstand is fashioned in the form of an ancient Roman sarcophagus.

A pair of mahogany framed sofas, one shown here, caught the eye when they featured in Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19.5% buyer’s premium) auction on August 3.

Trial run for a full worked-up version counts as a highly sought-after picture in its own right

Alexa Robins, organiser of AFC Fairs’ big antiques and vintage event at the Royal Cornwall Showground, is very excited by news of a new fair she’s been asked to put on.

Account of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb comes as rare set with dust jackets intact

In recent times the work of newspaper cartoonists has been reassessed with a nod to its artistic, technical and historical merit.