East Midlands

August 9, 1967. That was the day when Kenneth Halliwell killed his lover Joe Orton using a hammer. Nine blows to the head. Halliwell then committed suicide.

A skull and crossbones ring or a skeleton on a chain are now likely to be seen hanging from a Goth looking like they have just stepped out of a Tim Burton film or heading for the biannual Whitby music fest.

A rediscovered Augustus John (1878-1961) pencil drawing of his friend Jacob Epstein sold for £80,000 at Mellors & Kirk in Nottingham.

Auctioneers Hansons of Etwall, Derbyshire have announced they will be offering a fine Chinese blue and white vase with a Qianlong seal mark at their sale on July 1.

Arthur Swallow Fairs, organisers of the Lincolnshire Antiques & Home Show, have chosen to ‘phoenix’ their company to avoid a tax liability dating back three years.

Four people have been charged following an investigation into fraud at Stuart Porter Antiques in Stamford, which began in late 2013.

Hansons of Etwall in Derbyshire posted a new house record in the closing days of 2015 with the sale of a 13in (32cm) high Qianlong (1736-95) mark and period famille rose vase for £300,000.

As suggested by an inscription to the socle reading ‘Gallé, Expo 1900’, this ovoid pedestal vase offered by Hansons of Etwall in Derbyshire had been created in the studios of Emile Gallé (1846-1904) for the ‘Exposition Universelle de Paris’ in 1900.

Nottingham-based John Pye Auctions are expanding into Mayfair.

Bimbo The Giant Clown was the beaming white face of Pelham Puppets for decades.

More information has emerged about the colourful recent history of the £5m Wolsey Angels.

Five truly remarkable items of British wartime history are being offered for sale at J.P. Humbert Auctioneers of Towcester.

This rare battlefield First World War rose goes under the hammer at Hansons in Etwall, Derbyshire, on November 24.

This Fabergé enamelled silver and hardstone cigarette box sold for £46,500 at the latest sale held at Nicholas Mellors of Newark.

Beyond Limits is Sotheby’s annual outdoor exhibition of monumental sculpture in the historic gardens of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

A recent sale at Bamfords of Derby included two outstanding pieces of Chippendale period rococo furniture, both consigned by a local lady who had inherited them from her father.

Discovered at a regional valuation day held in Shropshire by Hansons of Etwall, this Tiffany and Co. silver and mixed-media tea caddy had been a wedding gift and had remained in the family of the vendor since the 1920s.

Popular demand has prompted IACF to trial a two-day part-weekend antiques and collectors’ fair next month at the RAF Swinderby site.

At the opening ceremony earlier this month of the Guardroom at Hemswell Antiques Centres, the former home of RAF Hemswell, the ribbon was cut by 83-year-old Bill Collard.