Denhams

Two stoneware tavern bottles produced at John Dwight’s Fulham Pottery in the 1670s surfaced for sale in West Sussex earlier this month.

Given that most antique furniture at auction tends to be good value only for the buyer these days, one can perhaps understand why it occasionally does not always receive the attention it once merited from auctioneers and valuers. As a result, occasionally a special item slips through.

A vendor had a nice surprise when a painting she inherited from her aunt and formerly owned by her grandmother proved much more valuable than she realised.

The travelling compendium reached its apogee in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. Two exceptional examples appeared on the market in quick succession in recent days.

Paul Comolera (1818-97) was one of a series of prominent sculptors who travelled to work in Stoke-on-Trent at a time of political upheaval in France.