Salisbury

Specialist dealer sells items from his collection in two-day auction as he heads towards semi-retirement

This “incredibly rare elaborate, fantastical and exquisitely carved” oak draw-leaf table, dating from the Golden Age of the English Renaissance, stood out at the Paul Fitzsimmons – A Life in Oak sale.

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

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

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.

Vase is thought to be from a group that share a provenance to the 1908 Japan-British Exhibition

‘Drum’ form mustard pots – known at the time as mustard tankards or cans – first emerged in the second half of the 18th century as the fashion changed from dry to wet mustard.

Scottish contemporary silver by Graham Leishman Stewart (1955-2020), squirreled away for decades in private collections, is now slowly beginning to reach the secondary market.

Jewellery shows great artistic and technical sophistication that catches the eyes of collectors

Woolley & Wallis (27% buyer’s premium) considered the Elizabethan bed offered on October 1 to be to ‘by far the most original to be offered at auction in recent years’.

So-called no’oanga stools from Rurutu Island, the northernmost island of the Austral archipelago in Polynesia, are distinct in their deep seats and solid curving legs terminating in button-like feet.

A strong selection of European pictures gave a boost to the latest specialist picture sale held at Salisbury saleroom Woolley & Wallis’ (27/26% buyer’s premium).

Altar-like form of an item usually attributed to one of two Southwark makers reflects the reverence that the commodity once held

Walter Child (1840-1930) and Harold Child (1848-1915), the sons of an East End pawnbroker who left a fortune of £30,000, opened as art jewellers in 1880 at 1 Seville Street, Belgravia.

Antique and vintage jewellery remains a strong suit across a broad range of styles, periods and values.