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IN 1851 it wowed the world when it won the Council Medal at the Great Exhibition, but for decades its whereabouts have been a mystery. Now, after years of research, Jeremy Lamond, a director of Halls Fine Art, of Shrewsbury, has solved the puzzle of what happened to the first ever exhibition sideboard.

COINCIDING with the run up to the British Open at Royal Troon, Christie’s South Kensington (19.5/12% buyer’s premium) held their summer sale of golf memorabilia on July 8. According to the specialist in charge, David Convery, the auction was “well attended by British based and American buyers,” but, nevertheless, there was still something of a polite hush around the saleroom with most lots barely scraping past their reserves.

THE first outing for Sotheby’s associate Graham Budd Auctions (15% buyer’s premium) offered a large range of sporting memorabilia in a 885-lot sale held at Sotheby’s Olympia on June 9. Football was the most represented sport, contributing to well over half the total number of lots.

KATE Dickens adored her father but found the situation at home after her parents’ separation to be intolerable and in 1860, desperate to get away, she entered into what was to prove a less than happy marriage to Wilkie Collins’ younger brother Charles.

ATTEMPTING to tap into the burgeoning Russian market, Tajan (20.33% buyer’s premium) appointed Moscow-born Tatyana Barysheva as in-house specialist last year. She is gradually building up a following for sales of Russian silver, vertu and works of art.

JUST in case you are jetting down to the jetset principality of Monaco this week to catch some sun and glitter, currently there is some culture to complement the hedonism.

FOR generations of shoppers from throughout this country and abroad, the favourite London store is Peter Jones in Sloane Square, Chelsea.