East of England

A man, who along with his father, stole valuable Chinese works of art from the home of an elderly Bedfordshire widow has been asked to pay back more than £200,000.

Thomas Dangerfield (c.1650-85) was a notorious thief, counterfeiter, highwayman and conspirator who is chiefly remembered for his role in falsely accusing British Roman Catholics as part of the ‘Popish Plot’ of 1678.

A recent sale at Mander Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) in Sudbury was topped by this textbook example of late 19th century American furniture: the Wooton secretaire desk.

This scarlet and navy woollen cape sold in an Essex auction is sewn with the numerous cloth regimental badges that were given to Esme Kathleen Robinson (d.2017) by the soldiers she treated in Oxfordshire as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during the Second World War.

Cheffins’ (24.5% buyer’s premium) latest silver offering in Cambridge was topped by a Qing trophy, c.1850.

Sixteenth century manuscript produced in a Florence monastery sells in Essex

An unframed painting offered at a Norfolk auction was bid to 2000 times its high estimate when bidders detected in it the hand of an Italian Old Master.

A two-volume manuscript used to determine swan ownership in East Anglia from the 16th to the 19th century was sold by Sworders for a remarkable £54,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium).

Collecting 18th century English porcelain is still a popular pursuit – but there’s no doubt that the core collecting audience is smaller than it once was.

A selection of Oceanic hardwood clubs and shields has come for sale at Sworders in Essex on November 9-10 as part of the auction of objects from the collection of dealer Jan Ellen Finch (1952-2021) of Finch & Co.

Famille rose vases decorated with ‘Hundred Boys’ scenes are among the most commercial of all Qing ceramics.

Among a number of Old Master portraits on offer in Cambridge is a depiction of a gentleman that has been consigned from a private collection in Suffolk.

Three months ago Kate and Steven Lee opened Antiques at Four, a small 13-dealer antiques centre in the Suffolk town of Beccles, just up the road from their shop, Blyburgate Antiques.

On November 9-10 Sworders will conduct an auction of objects from the collection of pioneering dealer Jan Ellen Finch (1952-2021) of Finch & Co.

Essex saleroom Sworders will sell a group of works by Angelica Kauffman (1741- 1807) next month.

Holiday weekend events previewed – including news of an organiser handing over the reins

According to family history, an Art Deco four-piece suite offered by Mander (20% buyer’s premium) in Sudbury on July 9 has an ocean-going history.

Auction house Sworders hopes to promote more sustainable delivery options by offering sea freight as opposed to air freight for international shipments.

The reassuring news from the East began with the first lot offered at Cheffins’ (24.5% buyer’s premium) Fine Sale when 10 China-based bidders competed for a Republican-era porcelain Putai.

The artists’ enclave of Newlyn in Cornwall was not exclusively a colony of painters.