Print Edition

Packed with a varied selection of precisely 1000 lots, a very thick catalogue rounded off one saleroom’s year in a December 11-12 sale.

Showing hardly any signs of wear and signed by JK Rowling – and originally acquired at a special signing at Harrods, as revealed by a laid-in ticket – a near pristine first issue copy of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone' of 1997, appeared at auction earlier this month.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

More female talent emerged at Roseberys in the form of this fiery piece of Abstract Expressionism below by American painter Grace Hartigan (1922-2008).

The Victorian Conservative politician Lord Coventry is believed to have commissioned this portrait of favourite hounds Rambler and Marksman.

This seasonal watercolour of figures ice skating in the Lake District (below) sold for a mid-estimate £3600 at local Cumbria saleroom Mitchells (20% buyer’s premium) on November 28.

An antiques dealer for nearly 40 years and the long-time owner of Below Stairs in Hungerford, Stewart Hofgartner, pictured below, is a colourful character.

MADAM – Have we lost the plot? Recently the ATG letters page has been taken over by debating whether one television show about antiques is better than the others available.

High-priced luxury handbags and other luxury goods made the most money at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) sale of Costume, Accessories and Textiles at Leyburn but collectors’ interest was more focused on a private collection of hat pins.

Early works from artist known as Marevna is key feature of family collection sold in London.

Three modestly valued works in regional sales, including a mini-sleeper at an Essex auction.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from January 4-31, 2019.

The 'London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair' (LARTA) is held alongside the 'Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair' at the beginning of the year.

For 30 years the London lawyer David Cooper and his wife Marie devoted themselves to building a collection of Art Deco sculpture.

Organised for more than 20 years by aviation enthusiasts Dave Sutton and Alistair White in conjunction with the Croydon Airport Society, the annual Croydon Aviation and Military Fair is run on a charity basis aiming to keep the history of Croydon aerodrome alive.

The antiques trade is to be celebrated in the New Year at a museum exhibition in County Durham.

A single-owner private collection, including significant works by artists from the Modern British canon, will be sold at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet on January 15.

A lavish Viennese gold-mounted porcelain tureen and stand – the epitome of Habsburg court luxury during the reign of the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI – topped Bonhams’ Fine European Ceramics sale in London on December 6.

A table designed by a teenaged Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) for Windsor Castle sold for £23,500 (plus 21% buyer’s premium) at Gorringe’s of Lewes on December 4.