East Midlands

Unique Auctions is to nearly double the size of its premises in Lincoln with a new 12,500 sq ft showroom.

A rare opportunity to own a watercolour by Prince Charles (b.1948) presented itself when items belonging to the former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and his wife Mary were put up for sale at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium).

Dealers Neil Honor and Jonathon Pegg run Catesbys, an interiors shop, from their home in the village of Exton, Rutland.

A monogram and faint signature to a botanical study sold at Derbyshire saleroom Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) revealed it to be the work of celebrated Australian artist Sidney Nolan (1917-92).

Pitched at £15,000-25,000, a rare 16th century French work made its lower estimate at Mellors & Kirk (20% buyer’s premium).

Roger de Ville brings a rare Liverpool delftware puzzle jug, c.1750, to The Buxton Decorative Antiques & Art Fair priced at £2200. He is among the regular exhibitors at the event, where he has stood for around 20 years.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Underpinned by bids from the internet, silver from beyond the British Isles is these days a stronger feature of provincial sales.

Guide to the prostitutes and brothels of London tempts bidders at Staffordshire sale.

“I’ve sold Jesus Christ… could I interest you in St Patrick?” So asked Martyn Watson of Penrith, Cumbria, stalling out in the Epic Centre and keen to shift his statue of Ireland’s patron saint.

Condensing a two-day event into one and moving to a new weekday slot are no mean feats – just ask Arthur Swallow Fairs, which has just launched a new streamlined format. ATG went along to the first edition to view the results.

Arthur Swallow Fairs’ Antiques & Home show may not have the moniker ‘international’ attached but the event attracts a strong overseas group of buyers who comb the fair, clutching sheets of shipping firm stickers to identify purchases for collection.