Newbury

This 2ft (60cm) tianqiuping or ‘heavenly globe vase’ is seemingly the only one known with this decoration.

Dreweatts’ May 18 sale of Chinese ceramics and works of art includes a 42-piece Chinese export part service which has been in the same family since purchase in c.1755.

Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) Modern & Contemporary Art sale on March 16 was led by some distance by the rare lead Mother and Child sculpture by Henry Moore (1898-1986) which was bid to £320,000 (see News, ATG No 2535).

It was supposedly as a result of a bet whether it was possible to make a camera that could fit into a cigarette packet that Noel Pemberton Billing (1881-1948) began work on a miniature, collapsible camera that would accept 35mm film.

China trade wares attract significant bidding at Dreweatts

The sale of Photographica & Cameras at Special Auction Services in Newbury on April 26 features this complete set of 'Tour Of The World' stereoviews by the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Provenance adds cachet to a varied selection offered in regional sale after London first dibs

Henry William Dee, the son of Soho silversmith Thomas William Dee (c.1792- 1869), made a speciality of producing silver novelties for Garrard, Leuchars & Son and Asprey’s and other retail goldsmiths. There was real genius here and the patterns for many were patented.

For many years the largest city outside London, Norwich had its own silver assay office during three periods from 1565-1702.

Silver was the major strength of a recent two-day sale at Dreweatts (25% buyers’ premium). All bar one of the 549 lots got away to a hammer total tipping the £1m mark.

Former champion jockey Joe Mercer 1934-2021) was a keen buyer of racing memorabilia.

A rare large-scale Erzgebirge mid-19th century painted wooden market was one of the stand-out lots of the largest-ever Toys, Dolls, Dolls’ Houses and Teddy Bears sale to be staged by Special Auction Services (20% buyer’s premium) in Newbury.

In natural light this English ‘black glass’ onion form wine bottle appears distinctly blue.

Fresh generations of the famous family added to hall’s collections to create eclectic mix. Jonathan Franks reports.

It is thought that Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) executed at least a hundred drawings featuring the Punchinelli, the hook-nosed, humpbacked clowns which were central to the commedia dell’arte. Jonathan Franks reports.

The Aynsley factory’s reputation for good quality, unadventurous bone china tea and coffee wares made it the safe choice for many British households.

Appeal of Weston Hall contents particularly enhanced by 20th century occupants

A copy of the first folio atlas ever printed in the Islamic world has sold for £69,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) – the highlight of the first day of Dreweatts’ sale titled Weston Hall and the Sitwells: A Family Legacy.

A group of early 19th century microscope slides mounted with specimens of fossilised wood sold for £11,500 (estimate £1000-1500) to a Canadian private collector at Special Auction Services (25% buyer’s premium) in Newbury.