Dorset

Nelson memorabilia from a private collection in Devon was keenly fought over at Duke’s Spring auction.

A strong performer in the Anthony du Boulay (1929-2022) sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dorchester was this 10in (24.5cm) enamelled chinoisierie milchglas vase.

This mid-18th century Maltese walnut and marquetry bureau cabinet was the top lot of the du Boulay Collection at Duke’s.

Anthony du Boulay (1929-2022) was well known as an expert on Chinese ceramics, although his interests were more wide ranging.

Estimated at just £50-80, a rare Staffordshire figure group sold online for £3000 at Clarke’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Semley, Dorset, on February 10.

A strong contest for a Dutch naval scene was generated at Dorset saleroom thanks in part to the picture bearing the signature 'A. Storck'.

Two Chinese blue and white dishes, recognised by bidders as examples of the bleu de Huế porcelain, flew to £20,500 at a sale in Dorset on January 26.

Bringing international interest to a Dorset auction, a limited edition Pierre Soulages (b.1919) print generated a strong bidding contest

Among the most eagerly contested lots in a sale of vintage posters was a set of three unrestored advertising posters by the Tuscany-born, Paris-based Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942).

One of the most local consignments provided arguably the most notable lot at a Busby (21% buyer’s premium) sale in Bridport, Dorset, on November 17.

In 1888, in response to a tender issued by the War Office, Prof Archibald Barr and Dr William Stroud submitted an application for an optical range-finder patent to the Patents Office.

Ceramics by Hans Coper (1920-81) and Lucie Rie (1902-95) have been assimilated into the collecting sphere of Modern British art with spectacular effect.

Samantha and Richard Payne-Withers run two antiques centres in Bridport, a Dorset market town which offers quite a choice of antiques and vintage shops.

A little-known theatrical portrait painted by Johan Zoffany (1733-1810) towards the end of his career sold for £330,000 at auction in Dorset.

This little-known theatrical portrait was painted in 1796 by Johan Zoffany (1733-1810) towards the end of his career.

The ‘property of a lady’, this concertina-style wallet book by Beatrix Potter, 'The Story of Miss Moppet', is a first edition published by Frederick Warne & Co, London & New York, 1906.

Bid to £16,000 in a sale held by Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester was a 1921 first of Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious House at Styles.

A ‘Jolly Roger’ or pirate flag that records the Second World War exploits of a British submarine flew once more in a militaria sale earlier this summer.

The watch market can be obsessed with brand names – and the best names do come with a price tag to match.

Among the 20th century works on paper generating demand at regional sales in the last few months was a Keith Vaughan (1912-77) study of a group of bathers.