South-west England

A painting by the celebrated Chinese 20th century artist Zhang Da Qian (1899-1983) sold for £2.3m (plus premium) at Woolley & Wallis.

Two collections assembled since the late 1960s enthuse a fresh generation of buyers.

Two rackets rackets (no, you aren’t seeing double) are on offer at the exhibition '#7 – It’s a Magic Number', organised by Cotswolds dealers Manfred Schotten and Christopher Clarke Antiques.

Catalogued as ‘exceptional’, this farmhouse refectory table fulfilled the auctioneer’s adjective in more than one way at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Dorchester on April 26.

Playing cards from two recent provincial sales are featured here – five examples from a 250-lot, single-owner collection offered in Gloucestershire, and a single pack from a Worcestershire sale.

While the 19th century English painter John Frederick Lewis (1805-76) is chiefly remembered for his major Orientalist creations – several of which have sold for more than £1m at auction – much less is known about his early career.

Inside Manchester Airport stands a sculpture dedicated to John Alcock and Arthur Brown, two aviators who made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919.

A major price for an Old Master in the English regions came in Wiltshire last week when a still-life by Flemish painter Frans Snyders (1579-1657) caught the eye of multiple bidders.

A portrait by John Opie (1761-1807) led nearly two dozen family portraits from the historic Penrose Estate in Porthleven, Cornwall, at local Penzance saleroom David Lay (18% buyer’s premium) on May 2.

Topped by an eight-times estimate £19,500 Momoyama ‘Namban’ cabinet (ATG No 2391), Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood’s (21% buyer’s premium) sale in Exeter on April 16 had other estimate-busting lots from abroad.

This gold ring mounted with an oval intaglio of the Roman god Mars made a multi-estimate £9000 at a sale of jewellery at Salisbury saleroom Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium).

With ‘on the premises’ country house contents sales now so rare, the more usual practice is for the better pieces to be removed to saleroom bases.

Barry Fletcher specialises in vintage rugs and comes over regularly from Belgium to stand at the 50-dealer monthly Bath Vintage & Antiques Market.

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