Lincolnshire

Unique Auctions is to nearly double the size of its premises in Lincoln with a new 12,500 sq ft showroom.

“I’ve sold Jesus Christ… could I interest you in St Patrick?” So asked Martyn Watson of Penrith, Cumbria, stalling out in the Epic Centre and keen to shift his statue of Ireland’s patron saint.

Condensing a two-day event into one and moving to a new weekday slot are no mean feats – just ask Arthur Swallow Fairs, which has just launched a new streamlined format. ATG went along to the first edition to view the results.

Arthur Swallow Fairs’ Antiques & Home show may not have the moniker ‘international’ attached but the event attracts a strong overseas group of buyers who comb the fair, clutching sheets of shipping firm stickers to identify purchases for collection.

Belinda and Tom Kilduff (pictured below) are Lincolnshire locals and Antiques & Home Show loyalists. They noted how “busy, condensed and lively” the one-day format was.

The continued interest in Victorian music boxes in this age of Spotify and streaming was evident when three were among the 1500-lot sale held by Unique Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium) to launch the new year.

Six lots relating to Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition of 1907-09 offered in a January 3 sale held by Golding Young & Mawer (20% buyer’s premium) raised £15,150 in all.

Schedule change for Lincolnshire Showground marks a shift in strategy but other organisers are more cautious.

It’s fair to say the work of Victorian animal painter Sidney Cooper (1803-1902) is not flavour of the month.

The idea to stage a 1940s weekend of events at Hemswell Antique Centres near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire in late July to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RAF came from some of the dealers based there.

Art Deco bronze and ivory figures continue to do well – despite the imminent legislation that could render some of them illegal to sell.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Echoes of Lincolnshire’s history in the hugely lucrative late medieval wool trade, this wool weight, below, probably from the 16th century, was the star item at John Taylors’ (18% buyer’s premium) appropriately named Wool Mart auction rooms in Louth.

Marvel comics in considerable numbers were a feature of a May 10 sale held by Golding Young & Mawer (20% buyer’s premium).

An 80-lot James Bond collection offeredin a recent Lincolnshire sale had been formed over a 40-year period.