Staffordshire

Dominating a grand lecture hall of one of France’s oldest universities is a classical fresco of the god Apollo and the Muses on Parnasses, created at the turn of the 20th century by French artist Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (1852-1929).

Stately homes make for enticing backdrops to antiques fairs and the Grade II-Listed Himley Hall, near Dudley in Staffordshire, is no exception.

Two early handmade Valentines from the Judith Howard collection of mourning jewellery, greeting cards andand other ephemera drew demand at Hansons latest sale at Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

A collection of 18th and 19th century mementoes of love and death – “the likes of which we are unlikely to ever see again” according to specialist Eric Knowles – brought a white-glove success at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium).

Roy Oxlade (1929- 2014) emerged in the 1950s as one of a distinguished group of painters, including Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, who studied under David Bomberg at Borough Polytechnic in London.

Hansons plans to hold auctions at all three of its venues after its purchase of the freehold of Bishton Hall in Staffordshire.

Disbound, but complete and still in the original covers, an 1830 first of William North’s Correct Account of all the Cricket Matches Played by the Nottingham Old Cricket Club from 1771 to 1829 came into bat in a recent Staffordshire sale with an estimate of just £50-100, but went on to score £6400 online via thesaleroom.com.

After more than 50 years as a designer for international stamps and banknotes printer Waterlow & Sons, Leonard Douglas Fryer (1891-1965) retired to enjoyable obscurity at his home in Ilford.

Discoloured, stained and in a crudely restored old binding, a scarce hunting work of 1704 was sold for a much higher than expected £1400 at a recent Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) sale.

Barewall Art Gallery in Burslem recently sold 'Chapel' by Arthur Berry (1925-94), raising £2170 for the British Heart Foundation.

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.

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.

IACF’s antiques and collectors’ fair held in the Bingley Hall at the Staffordshire Showground in October fielded around 140 stalls, according to the organiser.

The last-minute discovery of a 1776 first edition of Adam Smith’s '…Wealth of Nations' was a magical, unforgettable moment for a Derbyshire saleroom’s book specialist.