South-west England


COIN 2

Exeter museum acquires Anglo Saxon coin with first mention of city's name

21 August 2025

An Anglo-Saxon silver penny with the first recorded use of the name ‘Exeter’ has been acquired by that city’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery.

A WH Smith Books On Poultry Keeping Sign

Signs of the times: collectors to bid for piece of British retail history at auction of WH Smith archive

18 August 2025

The sale ends on August 31 at Chorley’s in Prinknash Abbey Park, Cheltenham.

Wemyss bulldog

Scarce Wemyss bulldog surfaces in the Cotswolds

18 August 2025

Wemyss Ware bulldogs decorated with cabbage roses were first made by Robert Heron’s Kirkcaldy factory in the early years of the 20th century.

Chris Barrie with some of his signs

Red Dwarf star’s automobilia collection heads to auction

15 August 2025

Enamel signs are among the items from actor Chris Barrie that will be sold in September in Dorset.

WEB Henry Aldridge Jukebox 1

US space age jukebox inspired by Cold War rival shoots to £5000 top estimate result

15 August 2025

The AMI Continental II jukebox appeared in 1962, a time when space race excitement was gripping the US.

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Duchess nameplate steams off at £18,200 hammer

11 August 2025

Railway locomotive nameplates can bring large sums in the saleroom, even when they are included in general rather than specialist auctions.

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The last Austin J40 pedal car gets away to a £7000 finish

11 August 2025

The A 1971 Austin J40 pedal car is a relatively common sight at auction and the best tend to make around the £3000-5000 mark. For an example to make more than that it would have to be something very special.

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Arts and craftsmen: clock inventor and ship’s figurehead carver caught on canvas

11 August 2025

The only known portrait of the inventor Reverend Edward Barlow (1639-1719) was sold by Bath horology specialist Gardiner Houlgate (20% buyer’s premium) earlier this summer.

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Buttons were a bright idea to find the lost Franklin Expedition crews in the Arctic

11 August 2025

During Edward Belcher’s fruitless two-year search for the lost Franklin expedition from 1852-54, many attempts were made to communicate with Inuit hunters in the hope they would have news of Franklin’s men.

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Bridehead revisited: Dorset home delivers a ‘textbook’ bumper country house sale

11 August 2025

Auctions like this don’t come along often these days.

Caitlin Riley

Hobbit first edition rediscovered in house clearance takes five-figure sum

07 August 2025

A “once in a lifetime” discovery of a 1937 jacketless first impression of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit smashed expectations, selling for £43,000 (£52,030 with fees) at auction.

Police image

Plea to find gold and silver jewellery stolen from Wiltshire antiques shop

31 July 2025

Wiltshire Police are appealing for information after gold and silver jewellery was targeted at Old Bank Antiques in Royal Wootton Bassett.

William De Morgan sketchbook

William De Morgan strikes twice as sketchbook and charger emerge in Gloucestershire

30 July 2025

Two contrasting works by William De Morgan (1839-1917) – a sketchbook and a triple-lustre charger – were offered for sale by Dominic Winter in consecutive sales this month.

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Why Child & Child was the artist’s choice

21 July 2025

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.

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Antique jewellery: Buying trends across a buoyant market

21 July 2025

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

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Obituary: Allan George Hare (1950-2025)

21 July 2025

The family of Allan George Hare are sad to report that Allan passed away on the evening of June 7, 2025 at the age of 74.

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The Waste Land – as typeset by Woolf

21 July 2025

While TS Eliot’s poem 'The Waste Land' had appeared in book form in the US in 1922 – and in two magazines the same year – the edition published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press in Richmond, Surrey in 1923 was the first in the UK.

Silver dealer Michael Baggott

First part of the Michael Baggott silver collection raises nearly £100,000 at auction

17 July 2025

Woolley & Wallis sold the first tranche of the private collection and stock of silver specialist Michael Baggott (1973-2025) on July 16.

The New Galloping Horse Carriage

Huge collection of antique prams comes to auction in Wiltshire

15 July 2025

The antiques and vintage sale at Gardiner Houlgate in Corsham on July 31 includes the Swift collection of antique prams.

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RW Martin pond full of life at a £15,000 hammer price

14 July 2025

This stoneware pond by Robert Wallace Martin, measuring 6ft 6in (2m) across, comprises 40 architectural elements, each incised with fish and aquatic creatures among water weeds.

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