Essex

The Horlicks collection of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson furniture will be sold at auction in Stansted Mountfitchet this autumn.

British artists dominated Sworders’ (23% buyer’s premium) Modern & Contemporary prints sale in Essex, with works by Banksy, Patrick Hughes, Damien Hirst, Bridget Riley and Grayson Perry all getting away.

Buildings constructed out of straw bales sound more like the world of Channel 4’s Grand Designs rather than the often solidly traditional realm of art and antiques auctioneers.

Briefly catalogued as a 19th century French cabinet embellished with gilt metal mounts and a jasperware plaque, this highly decorative piece shown below was a stand-out offering at Rayleigh auction house Stacey’s (20% buyer’s premium).

Dog pictures with charisma, personality and plenty of naturalism are a driving force in the secondary market for canine art, judging by a recent string of buoyant prices in the regions.

A good dose of sporting art is practically a prerequisite for any country house dispersal.

“When I come to look back at my career, I think this sale will have been the highlight,” said auctioneer Guy Schooling, 40 years at the rostrum, after selling the contents of Hertfordshire country house North Mymms Park.

The increasing market interest in modern designer silver was well catered for among the contents of North Mymms Park offered at Sworders.

Given the GlaxoSmithKline link, it was not a surprise to see four apothecaries’ cabinets among the contents of North Mymms Park sold at Sworders.

Among the silver from North Mymms Park lots offered at Sworders, a couple of 18th century classics, a c.1735 Scottish bullet teapot and a pair of John Cafe London 1775 table candlesticks, were eclipsed by the surprise success of a scantily catalogued Oriental teapot.

The primary contents of North Mymms Park in Hertfordshire – including an important collection of European tapestries – provided Sworders with its best-ever sale last week.

Artist Mel Winning runs a reclamation business in the medieval market town of Manningtree in Essex.

Celebrated in the thoroughly modern way with a Google Doodle on April 3 on what would have been his 325th birthday was John Harrison.

Essex saleroom Sworders (23% buyer’s premium) set a new auction high for Belle Epoque artist Albert de Belleroche (1864-1944).

Steve Cooper of Haddon Events is such a keen supporter of the Museum of Power at Maldon in Essex that he holds a biannual antiques and collectors’ fair at the venue.

An unexpected highlight of a recent sale at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet was this set of four early real tennis rackets. They came from a client in the North of England and had been owned by the family for many years.

A pair of trademark gouaches by Mary Fedden (1915-2012) drew strong bidding at auctions in Derbyshire and Essex.