UK

The National Ballistics and Intelligence Service (NABIS) has warned of a rise in defectively deactivated firearms offered at auction since the law changed this summer.

A newly discovered Ottoman charger described as one of the most important pieces of Iznik pottery remaining in private hands was the toast of Islamic Week, selling at Sotheby’s for a spectacular £4.55m (£5.4m including buyer’s premium).

Included in the Important Design sale at Phillips in London on October 18 was an unusual mantel clock designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869- 1944).

Provenance proved the key component for two paintings that achieved multi-estimate sums at Bonhams (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in London.

The current demand for female artists was in evidence at Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium) of Chichester when a work by Evelyn Ince (1886-1941) went under the hammer.

One of the highlights of the upcoming International Antique Doll, Teddy Bear and Toy Fair: 200 Years of Childhood at Kensington Town Hall will be an exhibition of toys to commemorate the centenary on November 11 of the end of the First World War.

The toy fair at Sandown Park in November is usually “the busiest one of the four we hold there each year”, says Barry Potter, founder in 1979 of BP Fairs, which first launched at this racecourse venue 31 years ago.

Gallery emphasises ahead of exhibition that items can be bought for as little as £100...

Launched in 2016, the fleamarket which runs every weekend at Flat Iron Square around seven railway arches on London’s Bankside in Southwark Street, SE1, has now extended into adjacent Union Street.

Heading the 800 lots of silver which opened the three-day sale at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) in Crewkerne was a 11¼in (28.5cm) tall flagon by Thomas Walker, Dublin, c.1750-60.

Formerly in the collections of a distinguished English bibliophile, Major John Roland Abbey, a copy of Luigi Mayer’s well-known set of Views in Egypt, Palestine and the Ottoman Empire was one of the highlights of a recent Scottish sale.

Published in 1962, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was the first book in a popular series of lupine tales by Joan Aiken (1924-2004), a prolific and prize-winning author whose specialities included the supernatural and children’s books that involved an elaborate, alternative history of Britain.

This large, rare Victorian doorstop depicting Charles Edward Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie as it is inscribed, is offered by Malcolm Eglin Antiques for £395 at the next Galloway fair.

So Last Century Vintage and Retro Fairs, aka dealers Alison Davis and Alan Old, run their popular south London events in Catford, at two locations in Beckenham and in Tooting.

A 17th century manuscript grimoire that sold for £18,000 (featured on these pages in ATG No 2363) was very much the star turn of an October 2 sale in Sussex, but certainly not the only lot to catch the eye.