UK

Lovely bunch of blooms? A closer look reveals Irish Quaker’s conchological talent...

Chiswick Auctions has hired former Bonhams auctioneer Bruce Addison to head a new Scottish office.

Among the best performers at the Olive collection of early British ceramics, metalwork, furniture and treen sold at Bonhams on January 31 was this large English delftware tankard.

Julian Trevelyan’s (1910-88) final oil painting, depicting Strawberry Hill against a pink sky, sold in the first hours of Connect – The Independent Art Fair’s inaugural staging on January 29.

A large bronze Cambodian ceremonial bell from the south-east Asian Bronze Age was the top-seller at the Peter Petrou: Tales of the Unexpected auction at Christie’s last week.

A painting by Scottish artist Dorothy Johnstone (1892-1980), executed near the peak of her career in 1921 made £3250 at Edinburgh saleroom Franklin Browns (15% buyer’s premium).

This inter-war ‘English school’ portrait of a seated gentleman wearing a bow tie, bought for around £150 three decades ago, sold for an unexpected £7600 at Charterhouse (21% buyer’s premium) on January 17. The unfinished 4ft 2in x 3ft 4in (1.27 x 1.01m) oil was dated 1922 but unsigned.

Textiles represent a wide and varied collecting field, a huge range of which is displayed in the show 'Material: Textile' at Messums Wiltshire, from practical pieces to intricately conceived works of art.

Offered to a packed and enthusiastic saleroom, the 750-lot silver sale at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne was divided into three parts: an extraordinary reference library, a broad sweep of the market for British and Continental white metal and a niche single-owner collection. It brought two-and-three-quarter cheers.

A rare blue-printed plate featuring the legendary cricketer WG Grace (1848-1915) is among the highlights at the Chester Antiques Fair.

An eight-day arched brass dial rolling moon-case clock, c.1750, is on offer for £3350 from Lancaster House Antiques at the next Galloway Antiques Fair at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire.

The names of two 17th century makers took these two lantern clocks way above estimates at Sworders’ (23% buyer’s premium) sale at Stansted Mountitchet. Both were from the Barbara Holliday collection that majored on Modern British art (see Art Market, ATG No 2377).

Adams Antiques Fairs rewards stall-holders who last the course.

The best meat platters have weathered the dip in fortunes of Staffordshire pearlware. The Durham Ox series remains a favourite pattern and there was no shortage of northern private bidders when two c.1820 examples were offered at Tennants’ (20% buyer’s premium) Leyburn sale on January 12.

'London Fashion Week' hits the city from February 15-19 in a dizzying whirl of catwalk shows from 250 designers at top venues.

This late 19th century cameo glass vase by the highly collectable Stourbridge maker Stevens & Williams was the outstanding offering among the 195 lots at Michael J Bowman’s (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Chudleigh on January 19.

The antiques trade descended on The Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle for the opening of an exhibition celebrating dealers’ shops, tastes, practices and their role in the creation of museum collections.