Northamptonshire

A portrait argued to be of author Emily Brontë is coming to auction this month.

With a lack of fairs during the pandemic and fewer scheduled in the near future, picture dealer Jeremy Green has taken the plunge and returned to running a physical gallery after 15 years of running his dealership from home and standing at fairs.

Furniture dealership Early Oak has moved from Burford in the Cotswolds to a more central location for all its UK buyers in Harringworth, near Northamptonshire’s border with Rutland.

In May 1875 the British Arctic Expedition under the command of George Nares (1831-1915) set off on a mission to reach the North Pole via the unchartered ‘open polar sea’.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

A good-quality violin linked to the German maker Jacobus Stainer (1619-83) led a group of previously overlooked musical instruments in a Towcester auction.

A busier than usual summer for the local housing market appeared to boost both vendor consignments and bidding at Market Harborough auctioneers Gildings (18% buyer’s premium).

This year marks a 20th anniversary for Northamptonshire dealer Mark Goodger. He first established the business Hampton Antiques with his wife Sara in 1998 and deals in antique boxes and accessories from the 18th-21st centuries.

D Kevin Smith launched Windsor House Antiques in Leeds in 1957. It is now based in Barnwell Manor in Peterborough by appointment and also trades from its website.

The button from the Lancaster bomber of 617 Squadron that released the ‘bouncing bomb’ which destroyed the Möhne Dam has sold after being offered at auction for the first time.