South-west England

Leading the sale of Arts & Crafts at the Woolley & Wallis June 21 sale was the monumental Pilkington’s Lancastrian vase shown above, standing some 48cm (19in) high.

It was, said specialist Michael Jeffery, “one of, if not the finest, collections of Burmantofts put together by a private individual”.

The Charles Dickens Birthday Book, edited by his eldest daughter, Mary, and illustrated by his youngest, Kate, was published in 1882, 12 years after the writer’s death.

“If I was a dealer, I’d buy the whole lot and put on a show. He’s a sort of great ‘undiscovered’ artist.” Mimi Lay of the Penzance auction house David Lay is referring to a consignment of graphic art by the 20th century painter and lithographer Richard Platt (b.1928).

While many in the trade believe the future lies in specialisation, Gloucestershire auction house Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) is making significant inroads into the general market beyond its renown as expert in books, maps and other works on paper.

Highly collectable in itself, this 1920s car showroom lightbox advertising sign, right, had extra appeal to one bidder at automobilia specialists Richard Edmonds’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Chippenham on June 16.

Originally entered for a general sale at Charterhouse Auctions (20% buyer’s premium), a distinctive little walnut table with brass leg attachments caught the eye of auctioneer Richard Bromell who diverted it to the fine sale in the Sherborne rooms on June 22.

Entered by a leading UK college, two very similar pairs of mid-18th century mahogany lecterns, one illustrated above, became the focus of two major West Country dealers at Tayler & Fletcher’s (20% buyer’s premium) June 22 sale at Bourton-in-the-Water.

Paul Kembery of Kembery Antique Clocks in the West Country is a regular exhibitor at Antiques for Everyone and will stand at the upcoming edition.

Original House, a Cotswolds dealership that specialises in industrial furniture, antique painted French furniture and unique interior objects, has branched out into contemporary art.

A June 16 sale at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne included theological works from the library of Edward Tottenham (1810-53), a cleric whose parishes were in Bath and Wells.

A “jewel-like” painting of a young girl reading by Edward Frampton (1870-1932) starred in Dominic Winter’s (19.5% buyer’s premium) June 15 sale.

Tiaras have enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, particularly in Russia and the Baltic States where jeans and a diamond fascinator are de rigueur at informal high-society events.

A massive Burmantofts faience charger sold for £13,000 (plus 22% buyer’s premium) at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury on June 22 – the highlight of a remarkable collection of more than 700 pieces by the Leeds factory.

A miners‘ lamp lit up bidding at a Cotswold saleroom to set a record for a George Stephenson model.

Written in 1960, Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girls broke the silence on sex in a socially repressive Ireland, seen through the lives of Kate and Baba, two young Irish country girls yearning for love who move from rural Ireland to Dublin to find it.