South-west England

A collector’s cabinet sold by Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on June 30-July 1 was from a small group of furnishings fashioned from the Waterloo Elm.

A typically enigmatic portrait by Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1890-1978) attracted interest at a recent sale at Lawrences (25 buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne in Somerset.

While Jane Austen thought Bath to be wearying after six weeks, a two-day fair will keep visitors enthralled

In 1862, just a year after the founding of the Morris, Marshall & Faulkner Company at Red Lion Square, a circular was sent to prospective clients to announce the ‘revival of the art of painting on china tiles’.

A pair of William De Morgan ruby lustre four tile panels, each measuring 2ft 4in x 8in (70 x 19cm) and depicting galleons in full sail with fish swimming in sea, sold on the top estimate of £6000 at Martel Maides (20% buyer’s premium) in St Peter Port, Guernsey, on June 11.

Two small single-owner collections of Martin Brothers stoneware were offered in June: one at Catherine Southon (27.6% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Chislehurst, Kent, on June 17, the other as part of the Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) June 25 sale in Sherborne, Dorset.

This George II Palladian giltwood looking glass sold for £17,000 (estimate £2000-3000) at Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) in Crewkerne on June 17.

Two medieval illuminated manuscripts identified as being late 19th century or early 20th century fakes attributed to The Spanish Forger are being sold in Dorset on June 25 estimated at £500-1000.

Rare atlases from the 17th to 19th centuries provided the top-sellers as an extensive library collection emerged from the estate of a descendant of one of Britain’s longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer.

Not many antiques fairs run for five days but the regular antiques fair held in the market town of Kingsbridge in south Devon does just that.

Unusual models brings strong demand as the RAF Museum sold off items it viewed as no longer needed

If The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers are to your liking, a large single-owner collection of military medals comprising nearly 100 lots dedicated to the regiment offered in Somerset on May 28 would have caught your eye.

Guided at £800-1200, a 10in (26cm) medieval ‘rotating’ or ‘register’ bookmark sold at £7000 at Semley Auctioneers (22% buyer’s premium) in Shaftesbury, Dorset on May 16.

Auction lots for a while now have demonstrated a factor which may be termed a ‘Malta premium’.

The two opening lots of Chorley’s Modern Art & Design sale on June 2 were a walnut and ebony secretaire cabinet and a dresser designed and made by Arts & Crafts titan Sidney Barnsley (1865-1926).

A true connoisseur’s collection of early silver greeted those who viewed the Woolley & Wallis (27/26% buyer’s premium) Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu sale in Salisbury on April 28-29.