Hampshire

Taxidermy is notoriously difficult and expensive to repair so condition is key.

AUCTIONEER Martin Lawrence of Petersfield firm Jacobs & Hunt was not expecting much when asked to conduct a probate valuation in a top-floor council flat in a rundown part of Southsea.

HAMPSHIRE auctioneers Jacobs & Hunt of Petersfield achieved a new house record when they sold this 17th century Italian specimen marble plaque for £37,000 last month.

APPRENTICE Andy Cunningham will be among those displaying their skills at the Open Weekend being held at the Edward Barnsley Workshop near Petersfield from June 21-22.

In 1963, the daring actions of a 15-strong band of small-time London criminals captivated the world’s media. In 2007, it seems the Great Train Robbery still has the capacity to seize headlines.

ON December 28, 1792 Anglo-Irish statesman, orator and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-97) enacted the melodrama in Parliament that became known as the Dagger Scene.

Police in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, are investigating a series of thefts from antiques shops and galleries in the area over the last month, which officers believe are linked.

TWO lots stood out among the 600 lots offered at Hampshire. One was an 18th century matched pair of brass barrelled flintlock pistols signed Burnford, London, which, because of a missing ramrod and broken trigger mechanism were catalogued a/f but sold to a collector at a quadruple estimate £1600.

The main head-turner at the Hove sale held by Scarborough Perry Fine Arts (15% buyer’s premium) on December 2-3 was this striking 19th century Italian, gold-mounted tortoiseshell snuffbox with a finely executed micromosaic lid, right.

NOW well established, the twice-yearly Petersfield Antiques Fair, organised by Caroline Penman at the Hampshire town’s Festival Hall, is a traditional fair which usually ticks over to the general satisfaction of its 43 or so exhibitors.

NOW under new ownership, Petersfield auctioneers Jacobs & Hunt have announced a new monthly general sale.

NOW well established, the twice-yearly Petersfield Antiques Fair, organised by Caroline Penman at the Hampshire town’s Festival Hall, is a traditional fair which usually ticks over to the general satisfaction of its 43 or so exhibitors.

HAVING reported on trade expansion, it is equally encouraging to see seasoned organisers such as Robert Bailey and Caroline Penman in a similarly upbeat mood.

FAIRS two weekends running at opposite ends of England make for a busy programme for the Harrogate organisers Galloway, beginning with their Naworth Castle Antiques Fair at Brampton, near Carlisle in Cumbria on August 20 to 22.

CONTINUING the recent spate of sophisticated country house thefts, valuable antiques were stolen from two homes in the south east of England in the space of a week last month.

Right: among the highlights of the three-day on-the-premises house sale conducted by Woolley & Wallis at Ashley Manor, near Stockbridge, Hampshire from May 18-20 was this 11 1/2in (29cm) high bronze cast of a winsome puppy by Dame Elizabeth Frink (1930-1993).

STILL on the bargain front, Hampshire dealers Millers Antiques will slash 20 per cent off all stock to be offered at their annual Open Weekend Exhibition to be held from May 7 to 10 at their extensive premises at Netherbrook House, 86 Christchurch Road, Ringwood.

THESE are heady times for fairgoers, what with Maastricht, major events in New York and the BADA and Olympia in London. But life goes on, and thrives, nearer the all-important grass roots.

A MASKED gang took a substantial quantity of antique jewellery during a robbery at the Petersfield Antiques Fair held at the Festival Hall in the town from February 6-8.

FOLLOWING her first London fair of the year, East Sussex organiser Caroline Penman moves to the country for her popular Spring Petersfield Antiques Fair which will run at the Festival Hall in the Hampshire town from February 6 to 8.