Yorkshire and the Humber

Increased private buying plus overseas trade purchases boost the huge annual extravaganza of the York National Book Fair.

This small-scale 12½in (32cm) high William and Mary period ebony veneered striking bracket clock will be one of the horological entries in the three-day clocks and fine interiors sale at Hutchinson Scott in Skipton, North Yorkshire, from October 17-19.

This Japanese Imari bijin was made at the Imari kilns around 1690-1700. She wears a long kimono decorated with apple blossom and leafy branches.

A dedicated sale of 117 lots from the collection of the late Teesside art dealers and Staithes Group specialists Tom and Rosamund Jordan was held this summer at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) in North Yorkshire.

A sword that saw action in the famed Charge of the Light Brigade sold for £1900 at Elstob Auctioneers’ (25% buyer’s premium) Antiques & Fine Art Sale.

A Victorian cased pair of the extinct New Zealand huia sold for £220,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) in Tennants’ Natural History and Taxidermy sale.

Helen Bowman and Ben Wray set up their Yorkshire Fleamarkets in 2017 at Skipton Auction Mart (Sundays 9am to 4pm) and expanded to Thirsk Auction Mart (Saturdays 11am to 6pm) the following year.

One of the better performing ‘manner of’ pictures of late was a landscape very much in the style of the great French Baroque painter Claude Lorrain (1600-82).

A highly decorative example of Japanese lacquer provided one of the highlights of Tennants’ (24/20% buyer’s premium) July 15 summer sale.

The membership figures for the PBFA (Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association) are looking robust with 25 new members in the past 12 months, bringing the total to around 400.

A chalcedony, sapphire and diamond flower brooch by Suzanne Belperron (1900-83) was included in Tennants’ (24% buyer’s premium) Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver sale on July 15.

This stoneware cream glaze vase, c.1960, by Bernard Leach (1887- 1979) is included in the programme of exhibitions at Willoughby Gerrish this autumn.

Bottles with fatal content had to be specially designed and coloured to avoid a nasty accident

The most eagerly contested lot in a recent sale at Potteries Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) was a Doulton stoneware Isobath inkwell.

By their nature, rare bottles can emerge for sale in some unlikely places

Trial run for a full worked-up version counts as a highly sought-after picture in its own right

When it comes to historic views of England’s university cities, bidders’ interest is not only determined by the usual factors such as the calibre of the artist and the picture’s condition.

An 18th century acanthus carved mahogany tripod table with pie-crust tilt top was one of the sought-after pieces of furniture at Tennants (24/20% buyer’s premium).

An antiques and vintage shop in the prime minister’s constituency of Richmond in North Yorkshire is set to shut its doors at Christmas.