UK

Deemed a little ostentatious in some circles, tiaras have enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, particularly in Russia and the Baltic states where jeans and a diamond fascinator are de rigueur at informal high-society events.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Every year, a female portrait is chosen as the ‘Face of the Fair’ at CADA (see main story for fair details).

Jean Ghika, global director of jewellery at Bonhams, closed out 2018 on a positive note.

Rare work by artist best known for his Lincolnshire views is a highlight of Dorset sale.

Sapphires have been mined in Burma (now Myanmar) for over a millennium, the stones admired for their colour saturation and dark hues.

Works by two artists who made the ocean their muse were the focus of a small collection at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (21% buyer’s premium) on January 29.

Gold rush era jewellery from Down Under is a rare visitor to UK salerooms but, remarkably, several pieces have appeared for sale in recent months.

As ACVR Events, Jackie Edwards launched her first antiques and decorative arts street fairs in the Hampshire town of Romsey four years ago.

Close to 300 lots in a recent London sale that focused mainly on private press and other illustrated books came from the library of the late Bruce Beatty, a banker whose artistic and bibliographic collecting preferences included fin de siècle literature.

A 1976 secretaire by Bernt Rosen was one of the highlight sales at last month’s Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea where US buyers jostled with locals to bag the best objects.

Portrait miniatures and sporting pictures were chief among the solid sellers in a traditional assemblage of paintings at Chorley’s (20% buyer’s premium) Country House sale in Gloucestershire on January 29.

An ancient Greek lekythos, which would have been used to smear perfumed oil on a woman’s skin before marriage, is one of the highlights at Art Antiques Cheshire.

This one-off retirement day piece (below) is by glass-maker Richard Golding, founder of Okra Glass, who has been involved with the art for more than 30 years.

Although the centre never closed during the Crossrail project, as that work winds down Grays Antiques Market now has a fresh chance to showcase the many exceptional dealers based in the Edwardian building on Davies Street in London. As one might expect near Bond Street, period jewellery, from Roman rings to 1970s retro, is the main stock in trade.

Copies of Giacomo Franco’s Habiti d’huomeni et donne venetiane…, a collection of detailed views and scenes of Venetian life and costume published c.1610, vary in the numbers of plates they present.

English pottery specialist John Howard is among the many dealers featuring pig-related pieces at the next Cotswolds Art and Antiques Dealers’ Association (CADA) Fair.