UK

Furnishings that were once part of the family home of Gertrude Bell, one of the most fascinating figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are coming up at auction at Tennants in North Yorkshire on March 17.

The generally encouraging start to the year enjoyed by English auctioneers extends to Scotland where Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) enjoyed a buoyant season-opener.

Cautiously catalogued as mid-19th century and suffering some damage, a large suzani attracted international interest at the Andrew Smith & Son (19% buyer’s premium) Winchester sale.

Sold at £6000 in a recent Scottish sale was an early golfing item. The 1839 edition of Rules of the Game of Golf adopted by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers shown below was still in the original wrappers and bore an 1852 ownership inscription of one Henry Wells.

Like most enduring events, the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair boasts a formula both familiar and distinctive which has been tempered by gradual changes.

In the flourishing market of British studio ceramics, a raft of new names is gaining traction.

Pretty, petite and French – a seductive combination which won admirers of this kingwood and floral marquetry escritoire at Mallams’ (20% buyer’s premium) Oxford rooms.

Olivier Malingue launched his eponymous New Bond Street gallery in 2016 and has devoted its business to bringing older pieces into contemporary frameworks.

Skilfully designed to catch salmon, fishing flies and lures hooked enthusiasts at Shropshire sporting specialist Mullock’s (20% buyer’s premium) fishing sale which included the work of two great names in the angling lexicon.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Galloway Antiques Fair’s next event takes place at Scone Palace, the Georgian Gothic historic house near Perth in Scotland.

BAMF chairman and new chief executive address LAPADA conference

The contribution of Britain’s ‘regional’ salerooms – defined here as those outside the big London four of Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Bonhams and Phillips – is frequently overlooked when figures demonstrating the size of the UK auction market for art and antiques are created.

Made in Switzerland for the Turkish market, in the late 19th century this zarf (coffee cup), below, had endured some rough treatment over the years before appearing at the Shropshire rooms of Trevanion & Dean (19% buyer’s premium).

When it comes to the business of selling middle-market collections, the big London salerooms are particularly adept at cherry-picking the best and rejecting the rest.

Over a period of four decades, from the 1930s-‘60s, the Italian artist Marino Marini (1901-80) returned again and again to the subject of horse and rider.

The Palladian home of the Earls of Pembroke will host the 41st staging of venerable vetted antiques fair on March 2-4.

MADAM – Gavin Littaur’s comment (Letters, ATG No 2329) that “BAMF’s definition of ‘museum quality’ is exceedingly unhelpful” pulls its punches too much.

Topographical watercolours may not be the hottest area of the art market, but they can still pack a punch in the saleroom.

A dazzling red and black herringbone-patterned Conklin Nozac cushion point pen and pencil set dating from 1932 and with an ability to write 7000 words before running out, is for sale at the Eastern Pen Show on March 4.