East Midlands

Stamford Auction Rooms set a house record when a Chinese pottery tripod censer shot over its £500-800 estimate to bring £320,000.

It was second time lucky for a 17th century ring made to commemorate the death of King Charles I.

Such is the recent appeal of dolls’ house accessories that you do not even need the ‘house’ to put them in, it seems.

The near ubiquitous ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ of the First World War becomes a rarity should the recipient be female.

Very much to current collecting taste is the 6½in (16.5cm) ‘peach bloom’ saucer dish shown here, offered by Batemans (20% buyer’s premium) on July 3.

Aficionados of later Chinese porcelain who happened to stumble on a lot of ‘collector’s plates’ at Unique Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Lincoln would have been excited to spot two fine artist-signed Republic period pieces.

The 1702 Accession of Queen Anne medal is not uncommon in copper and silver but very rare in gold.

Over the weekend of June 25-27, Lincolnshire dealer Hansord had planned to be in west London exhibiting at 'The Art and Antiques Fair Olympia'.

In these days of the internet search engine and the live bidding platform, it is reassuring to know that bargains are still out there.

Dealer Duncan Pembroke of Halycon Fairs is preparing for the first of his two-day 100-plus tables monthly antiques events for 16 months, taking place in the Derbyshire town of Buxton on Saturday and Sunday, June 19-20.

A recent sale at Gildings (20% buyer’s premium) of Market Harborough included a number of medals of historical interest.

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.