East Midlands

The Buxton Decorative Antiques & Art Fair made a welcome return to the annual fair calendar with a well-attended four-day event in the Peak District.

Modern British pictures sold at Gildings’ (20% buyer’s premium) recent Fine & Decorative Arts and Antiques auction helped the Leicestershire saleroom to the highest total in its 41-year history.

Michael Mills and his family, the new owners of the now renamed Antiques & Retro Antiques Centre at Hemswell Cliff, launched their business on May 1.

Intended to keep servants warm in the draughty watches of day and night at the entrances to grand houses, this porter’s chair was bought at Christie’s in 1989 and used in the vendor’s living room ever since.

The Library Auction at Hansons (Bishton Hall, Staffordshire) on June 15 includes this autograph letter by Roald Dahl.

From 1932-34 Clarice Cliff was the art director for a project involving nearly 30 artists of the day to promote good design on tableware.

Items belonging to the late comedian and entertainer Nicholas Parsons (1923-2020) are being unveiled at The Buxton Decorative Antiques & Art Fair in Derbyshire – the first ‘in person’ event of its type to take place in England this year.

A portrait argued to be of author Emily Brontë is coming to auction this month.

With a lack of fairs during the pandemic and fewer scheduled in the near future, picture dealer Jeremy Green has taken the plunge and returned to running a physical gallery after 15 years of running his dealership from home and standing at fairs.

A hoard of Romano-British bronzes discovered by metal detectorists in North Yorkshire last year will be offered at auction.

They sang about a Champagne Supernova but ‘24 large cans of quality lager’ were more to their taste when Oasis stipulated their needs for band and crew at an early gig.

“Due to our digital presence with our website, social media and the live virtual shopping tours I have been conducting all over the world my skeleton team of 10 staff have been kept extremely busy.”

This Victorian silver and enamel cigarette box is decorated to the lid with humorous scene from John Surtees’ Jorrocks, Jaunts and Jollities.

This 22-carat gold and enamel egg was the largest of a baker’s dozen made by Garrard in 1983 for a treasure hunt organised by Cadbury’s.

This copper alloy and champleve enamel brooch would once have graced the chariot of an Iron Age chieftain.

West Country-based fair organiser Cooper Events is targeting a late spring return following the government announcement that hospitality venues would be permitted to reopen indoors as part of ‘stage three’ of its timetable for easing Covid-19 restrictions in England.

Until its sale last year, Newbold Pacey Hall had been the seat of the Little family since the house was built by William Little in c.1780-90.

A row has erupted over the circumstances surrounding the auction of a collection of Modern British art in Derbyshire in December.