South-west England

Any sale where European silver plays a big role is likely to see the goldsmiths of Nuremberg well represented, and so it was at Woolley & Wallis’ most recent two-day auction in Salisbury.

Last month, we reported on Sue Ede’s purchase of The Bath Decorative Antiques Fair from Robin Coleman, the Bath-based dealer who has organised the event for the past 23 years.

This is the season of agricultural shows and so Duke’s of Dorchester’s June 20 sale of British agricultural medals was well timed.

A rare blue and white version of William De Morgan’s design of a kingfisher catching a fish while perched on a branch appeared at the latest Arts & Crafts sale at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury.

This Titanic postcard has been consigned to White Star Line specialists Henry Aldridge & Son to be included in their sale on July 28 in Devizes, Wiltshire.

Three pictures of London Zoo, produced within a few years of its opening to the public, were sold by Lawrences of Crewkerne on July 6.

Among the best Modern British pictures offered at Lawrences of Crewkerne on July 6 was Edward Burra’s (1905-76) ‘Funfair’, which was consigned from a good local collection barely 24 hours before the catalogue went to press.

What could well be the largest binoculars ever produced, this one-off commission was consigned to Cirencester auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent following a house clearance in Cheltenham.

This Eglentine Metal sign has never come to the open market before but is on offer among about 250 lots of advertising including showcards, packaging, mirrors and over 300-400 enamel signs to be sold at The Chippenham Auction Rooms on July 21.

In keeping with this year’s jubilee celebrations, a collection of 10 photographs of King George VI and his immediate family, including Queen Elizabeth II, will be offered at Charterhouse Auctioneers on July 26-27.

A selection of natural pearl jewellery will be included in Woolley and Wallis’ designated sale on July 19 in Salisbury.

Two England caps awarded to West Ham goalkeeper Ted Hufton (1892-1967) are to be sold at Plymouth Auction Rooms on July 18.

In their silver sale on July 17 and 18, Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury will put up for auction a fine late-Victorian silver-gilt Monteith bowl.

Sue Ede has acquired ‘The Bath Decorative Antiques Fair’ from Robin Coleman, the Bath-based dealer who has organised the event for the past 23 years.

A collection of Cornish Troika pottery will go under the hammer at Lawrences of Crewkerne, Somerset at their three-day, mixed-discipline sale on July 3, 5 and 6.

Seldom appearing at auction, this very rare English, Longton Hall porcelain figure of Guanyin, c.1750 will be offered at Chorley’s June 28, ceramics-focused sale in Gloucestershire.

If you thought the sometimes dark art of auction marketing was a new phenomenon, think again. A revealing snapshot of the business from two centuries ago was provided by a rare piece of auction ephemera sold for £300 at the Cotswold Auction Company in Cheltenham on May 1.

The small Wiltshire firm Jubilee Auction Rooms – opened in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year in 2002 and soon to move to larger premises in Pewsey – received inquiries from all over the world when it emerged they had unearthed a remarkable jewel-decorated flask by William Burges (1827-81) in a routine house clearance.

What may be a record price for the Poole artist Guy Sydenham was achieved at Cottees of Wareham when a stoneware model of a baby rhinoceros sold for £5000 at their latest sale.

Tributes have been paid to an antiques dealer who was drowned along with his three-year-old son in a boating accident.