Dorset

“I am not a number, I am a free man,” was the cry of Patrick McGoohan in TV series The Prisoner. The important number at the Charterhouse auction house on February 12 is £20,000-25,000 - the estimate for a 1963 Lotus Super Seven S2, the model made famous by appearing in that 1960s cult favourite show.

A family row over a large collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain escalated this week after Art Fund trustee Caroline Butler hired Christie’s to value the collection.

Bridport saleroom Busby’s will offer ‘unseen’ works by members of the Bloomsbury group on October 20.

Adam Schoon has joined Duke's in Dorchester to head its Asian art department.

A large collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain could be broken up and sold after a family feud among the heirs of Sir Michael Butler, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher.

A Fijian cannibal fork was sold at Duke’s in Dorchester for £7500 on September 16.

The original artwork for the cover of The Mighty Thor, published by Marvel Comics in 1968, sold for £36,000 at a recent auction at Charterhouse in Sherborne, Dorset.

The primary draw to the regions – rather than London – during last week’s glut of Asian works of art sales was the auction titled ‘In Pursuit of the Scholar’s Spirit’ conducted by Duke’s of Dorchester.

A bomb disposal team were called to Whittons Auctioneers in Honiton last week to remove several potentially dangerous wartime bombs.

Duke’s have moved into their new offices and saleroom in Dorchester.

Dorset auctioneers Cottees ventured into the Modern Art market with their latest sale featuring works by the likes of Paul Nash, Fred Yates and Lawrence Durrell.

Two large 18th century gold medals depicting events from the reign of Catherine the Great sold for spectacular sums at Duke’s latest auction in Dorchester.

Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse have been instructed to sell the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) pair awarded to a member of 617 Squadron, more commonly known as The Dambusters.

Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse are on a roll with Republican period (1911-49) porcelain.

Lady Jane Franklin (1791-1875) gained worldwide admiration for her efforts to trace her husband’s disappearance on his fatal 1845 voyage seeking the North West Passage.

Maori boat-shaped feather boxes – or ‘waka huia’ – are infrequent visitors to UK salerooms so it was unusual to see two examples sold in close proximity this summer.

Estimated at just £200-300, a set of four early 20th century Chinese famille rose porcelain plaques depicting the four seasons in mountainous settings were bought by a phone bidder from Shanghai for £420,000 at Charterhouse of Sherborne in Dorset.

Duke’s of Dorchester will offer this 9in (23cm) shell made by Lino Tagliapietra (b.1934), a master glass blower in Murano, at auction next month.