West Yorkshire

Although Charles Dickens is often credited with creating the ‘modern’ Christmas, some of the recognition should go to John Leech.

After the Hartleys (17.5% buyer’s premium) September 4 sale, auctioneer Andrew Hartley admitted: “Furniture did not perform as it was hoped from tiny chinks of daylight discernible in the last few months.”

In January this year we ran a Fairs & Markets story (ATG No 2374) about the Georgian former courthouse in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, which had reopened its doors as an antiques and cultural centre using the first floor only.

“Our visitor profile is generally interior style enthusiasts with an age range of 30-60 and it tends to be couples, families with small children and also ‘empty nesters’ who want to revamp their houses now they have it back to themselves.”

Former courthouse in West Yorkshire opens as antiques centre and community hub.

An album of 40 albumen images by pioneering photographer John Thomson with direct appeal to the market for early depictions of the Orient was the outstanding star at Hartleys (17.5% buyer’s premium).

Alan Cartwright’s two-day antiques and vintage fair at Wetherby Racecourse in West Yorkshire has been a strong runner in his Jaguar Fairs’ portfolio since he took it over in 2001. It now attracts up to 300 exhibitors at each of the three annual events.

An Edwardian Carlton House satinwood desk of the type which was once a best-seller at auction, but an early casualty of the furniture slump, was back in favour at the Hartleys (17.5% buyer’s premium) summer sale in Ilkley.

Designer Vicki Ambery-Smith is regularly selected to show at the prestigious annual Goldsmiths Fair at Goldsmiths Hall in London.

Trading as Rose & Brown, organiser Caroline Brown’s 50-stand vintage home and fashion fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, June 23-24, at the Victoria Hall in Saltaire, West Yorkshire.

The belief that porcelain dolls are somehow sinister has taken hold in recent years – and doubtless the appearance of the rare bebe pictured below rather reinforced the bias of some who viewed the Heliers (18% buyer’s premium) sale at Blackburn.

A reminder of a fair we previewed in January: Caroline Brown’s second vintage furniture and homewares fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29.

The textiles archive at the Sunny Bank Mills at Farsley, near Leeds in West Yorkshire, which was founded in 1829, is a fascinating piece of textiles history.

The most desirable of all porcelain plaques produced by KPM in the late 19th century are those that leave little to the imagination. However, evidence of their continued popularity across many different subject matters came in the form of this example below.

One of the most sought-after models in the jukebox world is the Wurlitzer Peacock Type 850, designed by Paul Fueller in 1941. It is generally considered the biggest, the showiest and ‘most jukeboxy’ jukebox of them all.

The wide-ranging summer sale at Ilkley saleroom Hartleys (15% buyer’s premium) on June 14 left auctioneer Andrew Hartley in an upbeat mood. He could look back on “some high prices in most areas, and in particular the furniture section showed early signs of a market waking up for items right across the board”.

Next up from the Antiques Dealers Fair Limited (ADFL) is The Antiques & Fine Art Fair at Harewood, which runs from May 12-14. The event returns for its sixth year in a purpose-built marquee on the grounds of Harewood House in West Yorkshire.