West Midlands

B2B Events has handed over the running of its fairs held at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern to a newly formed company, B2B Fairs, owned by Debra Scadding and Sue McIntosh.

Dealer Mark Goodger’s first sale at the inaugural Classic Antique Fairs staged at Birmingham’s NEC was a satinwood painted tea caddy.

Early details of the new spring fair organised by Stable Events in association with LAPADA at Birmingham’s NEC have been announced.

English-born dealers living in France are coming over to stand at the Malvern Flea Fairs which is good news, not least as they offer stock not seen on the market before, says Helen Yourston of B2B Events.

The highest auction prices for Mary Adshead (1904-95) all came at Sotheby’s Olympia back in 2006.

A bronze from Frederick Edward McWilliam’s (1909-92) Women of Belfast series of sculptures sold for £37,000 at Halls (24% buyer’s premium) on December 6.

This silver and enamel vase by Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927), the great master of Japanese cloisonné, sold to an English collector for £11,000 at Halls (24% buyer’s premium).

The fair held at a folk art musuem proved useful for dealers to encounter regular clients as well as new faces

The repurposing of buildings for use as antiques centres and sometimes fairs has seen a revitalisation of historic buidings.

Top-selling lot in Halls’ (24% buyer’s premium) books and manuscripts sale on November 15 was a collection of 14 letters written by the Anglo-Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) between 1818-31.

Porcelain from short-lived Staffordshire firm comes from collector and dealer who revived the market

The Times recently ran a feature on seven of the most atmospheric towns in the UK in which to do your Christmas shopping for one-off gifts, maybe combining this joysome activity with a weekend break. Here are some art and antiques options in two of them, Ludlow in Shropshire and Frome in Somerset.

Kashmir sapphires have acquired a near-legendary status, due to their lustrous cornflower colour, soft velvety texture and extreme rarity.

Dealers hail return to Midlands venue a year after closure of popular Antiques for Everyone events

To help raise funds for a flood appeal at the West Midlands Showground in Shrewsbury, local fair organisers Emma and Oli Jones, aka JOS Events held a special ‘yard’ sale there earlier this month.

The artist Samuel Fulton (1855-1941) painted portraits of people and horses but by far his favourite subject was dogs.

A 1556 first edition copy of Welshman Robert Recorde’s The Castle of Knowledge was estimated at £5000-10,000 and made £12,600 including buyer’s premium at Hansons’ November 1 Library auction.

An example from Frederick Edward McWilliam’s (1909-92) 'Women of Belfast' series is being offered at Halls’ auction in Shrewsbury on December 6.

Annual events held by trade associations CADA and BADA overlap to offer plenty of choice