West Midlands

On a day when furniture and antiques proved to be particularly popular, the surprise star of Fellows’ (23% buyer’s premium) 740-lot online sale was an Italian 19th century pier mirror.

Although now known as Gainsborough chairs, generous walnut and upholstered armchairs were often referred to by contemporaries as ‘French’ chairs, as the most elaborate styles were based on French rococo.

A miniature by Henry Bone (1755-1834) depicting the American artist Benjamin West (1738-1820) was among the notable lots at the recent Hansons sale.

Life model depicted by Freud, Auerbach and even Lennon amassed her own art collection

Reappearing in the same saleroom after a six-year interval, a landscape by Edmund Morison Wimperis (1835-1900) attracted attention at Halls (20% buyer’s premium) of Shrewsbury.

Firms in tier 1 enjoyed good trading in December but are now back in lockdown.

A new auction firm has launched in the market town of Leominster in Herefordshire.

The latest Specialist Collectors’ Sale at Cuttlestones in Wolverhampton included a little bit of 20th century ceramics history.

B2B Three Counties Showground in Malvern event now confirmed to run this month.

Small Britannia standard silver bowls are the signature pieces the Scottish silversmith Michael Lloyd (c.1950).

A rare Charles II commemorative silver thimble sold for £980 at Bleasdales (20% buyer’s premium).

English edition of the most famous scientific book of all finally ends up in German hands.

Ottoman bead carvers in Istanbul – makers of the garlands of beads known as tesbih and komboloi – were swift to appreciate the potential of Bakelite in c.1910.

Two private collections of the work of John Donald (b.1928) enjoyed a clean sweep at auctions in recent weeks.

Offered with moderate estimates, two Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) etchings from the Vollard Suite drew demand at the recent timed online sale of Modern & Contemporary art at Halls (20% buyer’s premium).

This Chelsea dish moulded as a vine leaf and painted with polychrome fruit is a textbook production from the Red Anchor period c.1755-58.

Whisky big and small was a winner at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) in Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

The Skipper Carrera Ref 7753/54, nicknamed the Skiperrera, was the first of the Heuer skipper models and a trophy lot in the collecting sphere.

The October 9-10 sale at Kingham & Orme (25% buyer’s premium) in Evesham included this rare pot lid inscribed Genuine Bears Grease.

Watch parts such as replacement dials, cases and hands from well-known models can add up to a lot of interest at auction, as recent results show.