South-west England

One of the most popular fairs in Grandma’s Attic Fairs’ extensive portfolio is the flagship two-day antiques and collectors’ fairs held in the Art Deco ballroom at the Bournemouth Pavilion.

Celebrating the county’s history, literature and its arts and crafts, an inaugural Dorset Auction was held in Dorchester by Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium).

John Rolfe from Wotton Auction Rooms had been asked to undertake a valuation for probate in a bungalow near Salisbury when he made an intriguing discovery.

Alec Walker (1889-1964) created Cryséde fabrics as a small experimental silk-printing firm in Newlyn in 1920.

Salisbury sale offered commemorative ceramics from single-owner collection

A small flurry of recent good prices for Australian artist Herbert Ivan Babbage (1875-1916) continued at David Lay (18% buyer’s premium) in Penzance, Cornwall.

A menu celebrating a landmark in British aviation – the first flight from London to Brighton, accomplished in 1911 – sold for £750 at Bellmans.

While Americans demonstrated by throwing tea into the harbour, the British registered complaints by putting the leaves into suitably decorated teapots.

It was a case of the cows coming home after 30 years for one buyer at a recent auction.

Serving in the Glider Pilot Regiment was a tough task during the Second World War.

A recent sale at Wotton Auction Rooms (21.6% buyer’s premium) in Wotton-Under-Edge included this set of three yellow metal fobs set with carnelian intaglios.

A selection of four upcoming jewellery lots including a necklace comprising 21 cameos and intaglios previously owned by the Duke of Wellington.

The career course of Edith Robinson (1862-1929), a London art teacher and painter of chocolate box watercolours was changed in 1893 when she and her new husband, the Stamford artist Nelson Dawson (1859-1941) attended a series of lectures given by the enameller Alexander Fisher.

Works from the collection of Edward Croft-Murray (1907-80), former keeper of prints and drawings at the British Museum, provided plenty of sale highlights.

A legal dispute that explored how long it is ‘fair and reasonable’ to wait for a buyer to pay for a six-figure purchase has concluded.

The sale of the collection of Robin Simpson (1940-2020) was celebration of British commemorative ceramics.

Although apparently unmarked, this pair of twin-handled porcelain covered chocolate cups, covers and saucers are a Derby model from c.1790-95.

“There is roughly a 50/50 split of Cornish and ‘out of county’ dealers, which is great”, enthused Ralph Retallack, organiser of the annual 'Enys House Antiques & Decorative Fair'.

Although condition remains a pivotal factor in the Old Master market, a number of lots sold recently in the UK regions suggest increasing interest for works that represent a promising restoration project.

This iron model of a hawk above is a striking example of a jizai okimono – lifelike, articulated animal figures popular in the last decades of Edo-period and Meiji Japan.