Newbury

The sale of Photographica & Cameras at Special Auction Services in Newbury on April 26 features this complete set of 'Tour Of The World' stereoviews by the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Provenance adds cachet to a varied selection offered in regional sale after London first dibs

Henry William Dee, the son of Soho silversmith Thomas William Dee (c.1792- 1869), made a speciality of producing silver novelties for Garrard, Leuchars & Son and Asprey’s and other retail goldsmiths. There was real genius here and the patterns for many were patented.

For many years the largest city outside London, Norwich had its own silver assay office during three periods from 1565-1702.

Silver was the major strength of a recent two-day sale at Dreweatts (25% buyers’ premium). All bar one of the 549 lots got away to a hammer total tipping the £1m mark.

Former champion jockey Joe Mercer 1934-2021) was a keen buyer of racing memorabilia.

A rare large-scale Erzgebirge mid-19th century painted wooden market was one of the stand-out lots of the largest-ever Toys, Dolls, Dolls’ Houses and Teddy Bears sale to be staged by Special Auction Services (20% buyer’s premium) in Newbury.

In natural light this English ‘black glass’ onion form wine bottle appears distinctly blue.

Fresh generations of the famous family added to hall’s collections to create eclectic mix. Jonathan Franks reports.

It is thought that Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) executed at least a hundred drawings featuring the Punchinelli, the hook-nosed, humpbacked clowns which were central to the commedia dell’arte. Jonathan Franks reports.

The Aynsley factory’s reputation for good quality, unadventurous bone china tea and coffee wares made it the safe choice for many British households.

Appeal of Weston Hall contents particularly enhanced by 20th century occupants

A copy of the first folio atlas ever printed in the Islamic world has sold for £69,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) – the highlight of the first day of Dreweatts’ sale titled Weston Hall and the Sitwells: A Family Legacy.

A group of early 19th century microscope slides mounted with specimens of fossilised wood sold for £11,500 (estimate £1000-1500) to a Canadian private collector at Special Auction Services (25% buyer’s premium) in Newbury.

Another studio sale bringing attention to an artist whose work rarely appears was held at Dreweatts (25% buyer’s premium) via a timed online auction of pictures by Bruce Tippett (1933-2017) that closed on September 16.

This unusual Meiji period Satsuma vase decorated in overglaze enamels and gilding, with a cockatoo perched on the branch of a flowering magnolia tree, has a gilt seal to the base for the Yabu Meizan workshop.

This pair of small qingbai foliate dishes from the Northern Song (960-1127) period comes with a receipt showing they were purchased by the Oxfordshire vendor for HK$16,000 from KY Fine Art in Hong Kong on June 7, 2003.

This 3ft 5in (1.03m) buff sandstone figure of a male chauri (fan) bearer from 9th-11th century central India, possibly Rajasthan, forms part of Dreweatts’ Asian Art Part 2 sale in Donnington Priory on November 11.

This complete copy of the first folio atlas ever printed in the Islamic world was discovered in one of the nine attics at Weston Hall in Northamptonshire, home of the Sitwell family for more than 300 years.