East Midlands

Though the organisation IACF is best known by its acronym, it’s hard to forget what the initials stand for. AA road signs guiding drivers into the Newark showground emphasise the word ‘international’ and the fair is known for its ability to attract overseas trade buyers.

Though IACF Newark markets itself firmly as a trade fair, it ensures the public has access too, in particular die-hard collectors who similar to trade buyers, know the dealers they want to visit.

“What’s the death on this snuff mull?” asks Tom Hurst, a dealer in African and Oceanic art attending Newark to buy for his online shop and in preparation for his first stand at Tribal Art London in 2019.

Paul Garner of Garners Antiques has a showroom in Rutland which offers art, antiques and British handmade furniture.

A regular stallholder at Arthur Swallow Fairs is Liam Woodgates, director of the Hopkinson Vintage Antique and Art Centre in Nottingham, where a corner display is pictured below.

Despite some condition issues, such as composite body, right hand thumb missing and slight damage to fingers and feet, this bisque head Kämmer & Reinhardt 109 doll sold for £3900 at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) on November 23.

It was a British engineer, Robert Whitehead (1823-1905) – working in Austria at the instigation of the Austrian Navy – who developed the first self-propelled torpedo in the 1850s.

Spotlight on art offered at Bishton Hall on-site auction underlines appeal of a grand home.

The last-minute discovery of a 1776 first edition of Adam Smith’s '…Wealth of Nations' was a magical, unforgettable moment for a Derbyshire saleroom’s book specialist.

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

A portable table clock by Thomas Tompion sold for a top-estimate £200,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) as part of a mixed-owner sale conducted by Hansons at Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

This watercolour bearing the signature of Norwich School artist John Sell Cotman (1782-1842) attracted a flurry of bids when it went under the hammer in Nottingham.

The long-awaited relaunch of Halcyon Fairs’ antiques fair at the restored Victorian Octagon ballroom in Buxton’s Pavilion Gardens has finally arrived.

British Horological Institute among exhibitors for ‘biggest of the year’ October showground fair.

Containing an original watercolour, one of just a dozen de luxe copies of the 1931, Harrap edition of Izaak Walton’s 'Compleat Angler', illustrated by Arthur Rackham, made a record equalling £10,000 at Gildings (18/12% buyer’s premium) of Market Harborough.