Features

London-made flintlocks with a solid provenance to Alexander Hamilton took to the stage at US sale

Very soon after the gun was invented men were trying to find ways of speeding up the process of reloading powder and shot to obtain a superior rate of fire.

A set of remarkable wine glasses that had remained in the same family since the 18th century was one of the highlights among quality items in two sales.

Back in 1990, following a famous and much-repeated Henry Sandon valuation on BBC Antiques Roadshow, a late 17th century slipware owl jug and cover was acquired by the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent for £22,000.

These two teapots – among the top-selling lots at the Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer's premium) sale of English and European Ceramics and Glass on June 16 – came for sale from the family of Lady Kate Davson, known to many by her maiden name of Kate Foster (1938-2020).

A single coffee can from the Baltic Service was among the highlights of Hansons’ (25% buyer’s premium) sale on June 9, selling to a collector at £2000.

Some exceptional pieces of Lowestoft featured in Bonhams’ (27.5/25% buyer’s premium) sale on June 23 – many of them from a single vendor.

This splendid Leeds pearlware horse, c.1810, was one of two offered at Christie’s (25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) on June 8 as part of a sale that combined property from seven titled vendors.

Enjoy a brief trip down memory lane as we look back on 2500 editions of ATG and prepare for our 50th anniversary in September

Described recently in a How To Spend It article in the Financial Times as a “part sleuth, part therapist and part miracle worker… a modern master of illumination”, Simon Gillespie runs a team of seven conservators, restorers and specialists in his studio above New Bond Street in central London.

Ceri House is an artist and restorer and currently works with Nick Shipton and the Brothership Studio team in Hertford.

Conservation and restoration firm Plowden & Smith is now run by managing director Camilla Hughes-Hunt with a team of 13 qualified full-time conservation specialists.

TV programmes have brought restoration and conservation into the public spotlight recently, but what is life really like for those working in the field at a time when training and jobs are under pressure?

West Dean College recently merged with KLC School of Design in London.

Lizzie Neville, head of school of conservation at West Dean College of Arts & Conservation, works with 15 full-time members of staff and more than 50 visiting lecturers

Priory Polishes sells restoration products to the antiques trade and was originally founded by Allan Worrell in Lancashire and later run by Paul Cartwright. Last year antiques and restoration firm Driscoll’s Antiques in Clitheroe, Lancashire, run by James Driscoll, took over the firm and Priory Polishes is now run by daughters Isabel (age 21) and Ruby (age 18).

This liver bird brooch, hallmarked for 1943, appears to have been commissioned as a bespoke order for Margaret Hall, the daughter of a lord mayor of Liverpool who, from 1935-6, was herself the lady mayoress of the city.

Kashmir sapphires have acquired a near-legendary status, due to their lustrous cornflower colour, soft velvety texture and extreme rarity.

The star of a recent Chiswick Auctions’ (25/12% buyer’s premium) Jewellery auction was an Art Deco diamond and rock crystal Cartier brooch, c.1925.

The appeal of this bracelet hung with eight enamel charms depicting Snow White and Seven Dwarfs lies in its Disney subject matter and its association with Cartier.