Worcestershire

In the resilient Beswick market, collectors paid high prices for some rarities – even modern prototypes – at autumn sales.

Although the catalogue noted the rarity of a Queen Anne silver tazza and tankard having been together for more than 300 years, they were offered separately at Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne.

The great appeal of an otherwise typical early 19th century longcase offered for sale on September 12 by Malvern auctioneer Philip Serrell was its painted dial.

Malvern event organisers have fully booked halls and hope for more exhibitors outside.

The John Goodwin (15% buyer’s premium) saleroom in Malvern offered what it dubbed “probably the most notorious bat in cricket history” in its June 20 auction: the infamous aluminium bat used by Dennis Lillee in the 1979-80 Ashes.

The resurrection of vinyl continues apace as was evident when a large collection of classical records offered by Ledbury auction house John Goodwin (15% buyer’s premium) attracted specialist trade and private interest from all over the world.

The recent sale of a single-owner collection of Moorcroft pottery by Kingham & Orme in Evesham demonstrated two distinct faces of the Staffordshire factory.

No good library of British art pottery literature is complete without a copy of Paul Atterbury’s 'Moorcroft'. The jacket illustration alone with its myriad tube-lined miniatures in a bewildering range of forms and patterns is particularly memorable. More than one collector has attempted to emulate the beguiling display.

B2B Events’ Malvern Antiques and Collectors’ Fair at the Three Counties Showground runs tri-annually, with the next on Sunday, June 23 – different timing to the organisers’ Malvern flea markets held nine times a year at the showground.

Two upcoming annual specialist fairs both running on Sunday, May 12.

In 'The Countryside Through Art', mid-century specialist Fifties Art & Design offers three views of a nearby landmark by John Piper (1903-92).

Among the most desirable of all needlework samplers are those associated with pupils at the Ackworth School, founded as a co-educational boarding school in 1779 by the Quaker physician John Fothergill and still thriving today.

Iconic names in the worlds of glass and ceramics starred in Kingham & Orme’s (20% buyer’s premium) wide-ranging March 1 sale at Evesham.

Coming to the Two Cs two-day Worcestershire Antiques Fair at the Chateau Impney Hotel are ceramics dealers offering porcelain pieces, including Derby, from the 17th to 20th centuries.

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.

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