South-west England

Napoleon Bonaparte’s magnetism remains as forceful as ever in UK salerooms.

This late drawing by Karl Hofer (1878-1955), the German Expressionist painter who was branded a creator of ‘degenerate art’ by the Nazis, was one of dozens consigned by his family to Taunton saleroom Greenslade Taylor Hunt (19.5% buyer’s premium).

Early-17th century Lithuanian plan sold alongside companion Dnieper river details

Though best known for his epic depictions of fiery disaster, English Romantic painter John Martin (1789-1853) also produced a series of smaller, quieter works.

David Lay’s (18% buyer's premium) second stand-alone Asian art sale held in Penzance was topped at £65,500 (estimate £3000-5000) by this shodana made in Meiji period Japan, c.1890.

The Box, a museum, gallery and archive set to open in Plymouth in May, has acquired a ‘colossal and extraordinary grotesque grinning crab’ by the Martin Brothers.

In the vibrant world of British decorative fairs, 'The Bath Decorative & Antiques Fair' is a market leader. Now in its 31st staging, it opens its doors to the trade on March 5 and welcomes the public from March 6-8.

Newcomers to the 44-dealer annual Wilton House Antiques Fair include the Vangelli Gallery in London with Asian decorative art, the West Sussex antique dealership Wakelin & Linfield which sells English and Continental furniture and Shine on Design, specialising in Art Deco pieces.

A Westerwald salt-glaze jug offered at Reeman Dansie's latest sale in Colchester was worked with stylised tulips and a medallion with the portraits of William of Orange and Queen Mary.

Two institutions dominated bidding for the notebooks and correspondence of a significant Regency period female author at the Cotswold Auction Company in Cheltenham last week.

Group of paintings by one of the less well-known masters of the medium comes to light

The first of the year’s two spring dates for the popular Vintage Bazaar held in the West Country will be on Saturday, March 14.

The Victorian artist John Bagnold Burgess (1829- 97), grandson of a painter who counted Thomas Gainsborough among his pupils, was best known as a painter of genre scenes.

Star turn among some 120 lots of playing cards offered as part of a Stroud Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) sale was the last to be offered. A complete set of Charles Hodges’ Astronomical Playing Cards, it sold online for £3000.

Judith Howard (1945-2019), collector, part-time dealer, museum curator, author, TV expert and lecturer, was a self-confessed ‘maximalist’. Every shelf and wall space in her Wiltshire end-of-terrace was there to be filled. Dusting was a chore reserved for just one day a year.

Drawings by two later followers of the Pre-Raphaelites drew competition at separate regional salerooms.