UK

Emma and Oli Jones of JOS Events are taking over Amulet Fairs’ antiques and collectors’ fairs run at the Oswestry Showground by Sheila Jackson for 30 years.

With the great country house contents sales of the past now largely a distant memory, single-owner collection sales have become the next-best thing.

A lengthy provenance was key to the success of a large watercolour by the 19th century artist David Cox (1783-1859).

Collectables untouched by Byronmania but selling well at the Harold Ward auction at Mellors & Kirk on February 6-7 included a 19th century ‘Grand Tour’ Italian alabaster model of the Piazza del Duomo, Pisa, and a gold-mounted malacca walking cane engraved to the pommel with the 1816-37 royal arms.

The sale of two great collections at auction – one in London, the other in New York – has highlighted the ebbs and flows of the market for early British pottery and furniture.

A very different residence to Harold Ward’s Manthorpe House (see Mellors & Kirk story in Auction Reports this edition) supplied the very different contents to the 600-lot single-owner collection, white-glove sale held at Bellmans’ (22% buyer’s premium) Billingshurst saleroom on February 9.

A little-known work by a prolific Newlyn School artist became the top lot of Scottish saleroom Elgin Auction Centre’s (15% buyer’s premium) February 6 sale.

In 2018 Tennants of Leyburn recorded a hammer turnover of £13.3m – an increase of roughly £1m from the previous year.

A 19th century masterpiece by William Powell Frith (1819- 1909) that serves as a who’s who of influential Victorians is on offer from a new St James’s gallery for £10m.

Among the most eagerly-contested lots in the Paul Reeves: An Eye For Design sale at Lyon & Turnbull was this set of Royal Worcester porcelain wall brackets, c.1865, allegorical of the four seasons.

An exceptional Victorian scratch-built model steam engine has returned home after the maker’s great-grandson bought it from UK dealer Vavasseur Antiques.

Two fine examples of Meiji period cloisonné brought similar multi-estimate sums at regional auctions earlier this month.

Claire Brown, formerly director of Rupert Wace Ancient Art, has launched a new independent venture after 30 years in the art and antiques trade.