UK

A painting by the celebrated Chinese 20th century artist Zhang Da Qian (1899-1983) sold for £2.3m (plus premium) at Woolley & Wallis.

In the Late Middle Ages the chaplet, made in many materials from boxwood to precious metals, was a commonplace aid to keep count of the repetition of prayers or the chapters read in a Book of Hours.

Unusually for an Asian art sale, the top price at Sworders' latest offering in in Stansted Mountfitchet was paid for a Japanese work of art.

A bucolic Norfolk landscape by English artist John Alfred Arnesby-Brown (1866- 1953) emerged as one of the top sellers in an auction dedicated to East Anglian art at local Aylsham saleroom Keys (20% buyer’s premium).

Playing cards from two recent provincial sales are featured here – five examples from a 250-lot, single-owner collection offered in Gloucestershire, and a single pack from a Worcestershire sale.

One of the last oil paintings by Scottish artist William McTaggart (1835-1910) is on offer in a show of highlights at The Fine Art Society in Edinburgh.

Two collections assembled since the late 1960s enthuse a fresh generation of buyers.

Inside Manchester Airport stands a sculpture dedicated to John Alcock and Arthur Brown, two aviators who made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919.

One of the best pieces of early oak at spring provincial sales was an17th century carved oak mural livery cupboard sold at Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium) of Chichester.

Illustrated below is one of seven lots of Dutch ‘white metal ’ miniature tableware and furniture entered into a weekly general sale at Gorringe’s (21% buyer’s premium).

A portrait by Henry Lamb (1883-1960) making its first appearance at auction fetched a sale-topping £18,000 at Cambridge auction house Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) on May 9.

On a sunny day in the beautiful surroundings of the Palladian Buxted Park Hotel in East Sussex, fair organiser Caroline and her husband Ricardo Penman celebrated their golden wedding and 75th birthdays.

The furniture market continues to enjoy its occasional moments in the sun. During The Pedestal’s (25% buyer’s premium) sixth sale at Moor Park, Hertfordshire, on April 30 a George III carved mahogany octagonal tripod table (estimate £12,000-18,000) sold for £24,000.

Society fair celebrates ephemeral items in which interest is sustained.

'Grand Fourmilier' (1906), a large bronze sculpture of a giant anteater, is distinctive among a collection of bronze sculptures by Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916) offered at a Sladmore Gallery exhibition.

Two rackets rackets (no, you aren’t seeing double) are on offer at the exhibition '#7 – It’s a Magic Number', organised by Cotswolds dealers Manfred Schotten and Christopher Clarke Antiques.

As So Last Century, Alison Davis and Alan Old run vintage fairs at three south London venues: St Dunstan’s College in Catford, the White Eagle Club in Tooting and at Beckenham Place Mansion in Beckenham Place Park.

Rusty, dusty and damaged, but bearing the magic of Marklin, a pre-First World War toy train emerged from the garage at a local house clearance. It starred in a collectors sale at the Cumbrian saleroom of 1818 Auctioneers (20% buyer’s premium inc VAT).

The Watch Sale at Fellows in Birmingham on June 18 includes arare Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona chronograph with ‘reverse panda’ white on black dial.