South-west England

Ahead of a major two-day postcard collector festival, a dealer explains the draw of the most popular types

Japanned Jennens & Bettridge creation gains value as rare survivor in such good condition

The New Orphan Houses in the Ashley Down district in the north of Bristol were once the largest orphanages in the UK.

Across the Georgian period a number of diminutive ‘bachelor’s’ teapots were produced that were probably intended for brewing saffron.

The latest sale of Cornish Art, Fine Art & Studio Pottery at Lay’s (21% buyer’s premium) in Penzance featured 85 lots from the personal art collection of Michael Hunt.

A group of seven works that were once part of the collection of noted connoisseur and scholar Kerrison Preston (1884-1974) came to a recent auction held by Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dorset.

A decade ago V&A curators used an X-ray to discover what was inside a vintage Christmas cracker made in the 1920s by the Tom Smith company without having to actually pull it. This revealed a small chocolate.

Inventive pieces that can be broken down into modular elements – transformable jewels – began with the French parure in the court of Louis XIV.

A first edition of Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs published by The Crime Club (Collins), London 1942, was consigned to Wessex Auction Rooms (24% buyer’s premium) by the family of Phyllis Rice, housekeeper to the author at Greenway House.

French inventor Charles-Émile Reynaud (1844-1918) was responsible for the first projected animated films.

A new design and antiques venture will debut at the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair with a Grand Tour– inspired selection that includes a pair of hand-carved marble obelisks with striking malachite detailing.

A new sale for the ceramics and glass department at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes is coming soon.

Crewkerne centre closes down amid tributes paid to a ‘professional, friendly bunch of traders’

Spotlight on awards that brought rewards for vendors in three separate sales

Dealer from a Cotswolds family business acquired English tin glazed earthenware as a personal interest

John Short, a well-known collector in the Bristol area, amassed over 50,000 autographs in his lifetime. He began obtaining signatures at stage doors in the 1960s right up until his death in 2022.

Paul Fitzsimmons of Marhamchurch Antiques in Bovey Tracey, Devon, is one of the foremost early English oak specialists in the UK, with over 30 years of experience in the trade.