West Midlands

Time has moved on for events at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull organised by Liz and Carl Barnes of Time Fairs.

Among the first women potters recognised by the public as individual designers worthy of collecting were Hannah Barlow (1851-1916) and her sister Florence. The first women artists at Doulton’s Lambeth factory, they joined in 1871 and 1873 respectively.

Speaking before Parliament’s vote on Brexit scheduled for the week beginning January 14, Helen Yourston, director of B2B Events, said: “Obviously that is a real concern for dealers at our fairs, but so far bookings for 2019 are looking buoyant.”

Organiser launches Malvern fair to run alongside existing venues.

A fine example of a dirk, without which no Highland formal dresswear is complete, was among the stand-out lots at Cuttlestones’ (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Penkridge on November 22.

Testament to a vibrant market for vintage Tudor wristwatches, a very scarce Oysterdate – the reference 7031 or ‘Homeplate’ – proved the star of Hansons’ Christmas auction at Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

The Victorian Conservative politician Lord Coventry is believed to have commissioned this portrait of favourite hounds Rambler and Marksman.

Two under-catalogued Sino-Tibetan bronzes illuminated the regional saleroom scene with multi-estimate sums in the final days of November.

Among the works selling at the recent Art & Antiques for Everyone fair in Birmingham was a watercolour by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope (1829-1908).

A large and handsome souvenir publication for the French liner SS Normandie was offered in a Mullock’s (20% buyer’s premium) sale of October 16.

British Empire soldiers included more than a million Indian Army troops serving overseas.

Among the many versions of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, the reference 5508 with its James Bond association is perhaps the best known.

On June 13, 1913, just five days after the infamous death of Emily Wilding Davison under the king’s horse at the Derby, two Suffragettes set fire to the Hurst Park grandstand in Surrey.