East Midlands

Police have launched an investigation into a suspected fraud centred on a Lincolnshire antiques business.

This James II or William and Mary silver-gilt travelling set c.1690 was among the exceptional pieces of English silver sold at the latest sale held by Mellors & Kirk of Nottingham.

A lost seam of blue john stone has been rediscovered at one of the only two caverns in Britain where it can be found.

A large depiction of a magician commanded significant attention at Mellors & Kirk’s sale in Nottingham earlier today.

Long-standing auctioneers Richardsons of Bourne Auction Rooms have joined forces with fellow Lincolnshire saleroom Golding Young & Mawer, thanks to a merger effective from earlier this month.

Heavy snow and ice at the Lincolnshire showground have led to the cancellation of the Lincolnshire Antiques & Home Show scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, January 28-29.

Two metal detectorists have been given suspended jail sentences in what is being hailed as a landmark case for the Portable Antiquities Scheme. It is the first time that such a ruling has been made since the scheme, which was piloted in the 1990s, came fully into force in 2003.

Modelled as a rearing duck, this late Victorian silver and clear-glass novelty claret jug will be included in Golding Young & Mawer’s sale in Grantham, Lincolnshire on January 9.

One of only around 100 made, this reclining Chinaman cast-iron money bank will go under the hammer at Unique Auctions of Lincoln on January 1.

A gang of robbers wearing ‘Halloween’ type masks and dressed all in black got more than they bargained for when staff at the well-known Hemswell Antiques Centre fought back to foil their raid.

A year after offering the first spectacular array of woodworking tools from the collection of David R. Russell, David Stanley Auctions of Osgathorpe included the third instalment from this prolific source at their most recent sale.

Mellors and Kirk of Nottingham included a watercolour by Walter Langley (1852-1922) in their fine art sale on September 20-21.

A house visit in north Derbyshire unearthed a treasure trove, with every room cluttered with porcelain figures.

Works of art by architect-designer William Burges (1827-1881) are extremely rare – but serendipity has seen half a dozen pieces emerge recently in the regions.

The popular ‘Antiques & Home Show’, held six times a year at the Lincolnshire Showground, is to change from a three- to a two-day event.

A unique ceremonial key for opening Victoria Bridge in Kuala Kangsor, Malaysia, is one of the more unusual items coming up at JP Humbert of Towcester’s September 26-27 sale.

Several items stolen from Derby Museum and Art Gallery’s storage facility have been recovered and two arrests have been made.

The multitude of television shows devoted to antiques are rarely popular with the antiques trade as a whole – in a well-worn argument some credit them with the disintegration of the dealing community itself – but auctioneers are ready participants both for the publicity and the prospect of a decent consignment.

Coins, medals and watches worth over £50,000 have been stolen as a series of museum break-ins continues.

Flick through the pages of an issue of ATG in the 1980s and there are many references to the rising market for Royal Doulton character jugs.