Crewkerne

Although condition remains a pivotal factor in the Old Master market, a number of lots sold recently in the UK regions suggest increasing interest for works that represent a promising restoration project.

A group of works by painter, printmaker and war artist Edward Ardizzone (1900-79) was offered at Lawrences’ latest picture sale in Crewkerne, with eight lots coming from the artist’s family.

Distinctive steeple cups are scarce but an Elizabethan silver example came to market at a Somerset auction house

The Silver & Vertu sale at Lawrences in Crewkerne on July 20 includes this 17in (42cm) high Elizabeth I steeple cup and cover with the maker’s mark AB conjoined, London 1602.

Lawrences of Crewkerne is offering a charming picture of two dogs on July 21 that the auction house last sold in the 1950s.

The sale of 19th and 20th Century Ceramics at Lawrences in Crewkerne on July 22 includes two coil-built terracotta vessels by the Kenyan-born potter Dame Magdalene Odundo (b.1950).

Four early pieces of Newcastle plate and a selection of other silver rarities sold at auction this autumn

As hugely personal items and of relatively small melt value, spoons represent the great majority of English domestic silver items surviving from the pre-civil war period.

This curious object is the forerunner of a million Christmas cracker prizes. Made in gold and silver, c.1830, the ‘ring’ chased with flowers includes a tiny pin hole which allows a jet of water to be squirted into the face of an unsuspecting admirer via a syringe-like plunger that can be concealed in the palm.

Principal attraction in a Crewkerne book sale at Lawrences (25% buyers premium) was the Browning family archive that featured as Pick of the Week in ATG No 2459, but three other items from that 370 lot sale are noted here.

Lawrences’ (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Crewkerne on September 10 featured three swords that came to auction from the family of the ‘Father of the RAF’: Viscount Trenchard GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO (1873-1956).

Early work by the Plymouth artist portrays himself alongside German alchemist

This Egyptian polychrome painted wood sarcophagus mask comes from the lid of an anthropoid coffin. These were coffins carved to the outline of the mummy’s body and decorated with the face and wig of the deceased.

The Robert Thompson firm produced shire horses, such as this example offered by Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on July 23, from the 1960s-90s.

Sapphires come in a range of hues from colourless to blue. The ‘fancy’ canary yellow stones, caused by trace amounts of iron, are particularly desirable - the best found in Sri Lanka.

Pair thought to be Derby are rated as Gilbody rarities by specialist and dealer who competed

Late work by the pivotal avant-garde painter belies the dark nature of earlier works

Although outwardly simple objects, cedar ‘bent corner’ chests, still made today by the indigenous people of the Pacific North West, employ a number of sophisticated woodworking techniques.

This pair of silver and enamel cufflinks with the royal cypher of George VI comes in a presentation box by Plante of Bury Street, London.

An unusual but welcome inclusion to the latest silver and vertu sale at Lawrences of Crewkerne was a medieval walrus ivory tableman or backgammon piece.