Features

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.

These two fine examples of archaeological revival gold jewellery come for sale in the regions in July.

An episode of BBC Antiques Roadshow filmed at Windermere and broadcast in February included this 18ct gold and pearl necklace by HG Murphy.

The collection of about 800 engraved gems formed by the nobleman and politician George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817), was the largest and most important of the age.

In the thrifty years after the Wall Street Crash, many Cartier jewels used fewer large diamonds and more colourful secondary stones. What they lost in intrinsic value they more than made up for with the ‘wow’ factor.

Here we feature a selection of very different brooches coming up for sale in the UK regions in July.

Halls’ (23% buyer’s premium) Summer auction in Shrewsbury on June 16 included a private collection of nine pieces of Boucheron jewellery.

London gallery Adrian Sassoon has chosen the grand country estate of Parham House in West Sussex for a summer-long exhibition of Contemporary art.

Sworders’ next Design auction on July 13-14 is the first to include a dedicated section devoted to photography.

The sale of 19th and 20th Century Ceramics at Lawrences in Crewkerne on July 22 includes two coil-built terracotta vessels by the Kenyan-born potter Dame Magdalene Odundo (b.1950).

The Silver & Vertu sale at Lawrences in Crewkerne on July 20 includes this 17in (42cm) high Elizabeth I steeple cup and cover with the maker’s mark AB conjoined, London 1602.

The Welsh sale at Rogers Jones in Cardiff on July 24 includes this rare Ewenny pottery slipware wassail bowl and cover, estimated at £3000-5000.

In 1820 the then US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned William J Stone to produce a facsimile of the original 'Declaration of Independence'.

Sotheby’s Treasures sale on July 6 includes this Dutch silver standing salt by Adam van Vianen (Utrecht, 1621) estimated at £600,000-800,000.

A collection of Doulton from a West Country farmhouse is included in the Charterhouse July 8-9 auction in Sherborne, Dorset.

Although some restrictions are still in place for now, many fairs and markets organisers are gearing up for a busy summer to serve pent-up demand.