East of England

Coming to Cheffins’ October 21 auction directly from the library of the Hertfordshire estate, Julians Park, the home of society hostess Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie, is a collection of 70 of the principal books.

It was in the wake of the Great Fire of London in 1666 that the first societies were created to protect against the losses caused by fire.

The third edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was the last of those published in 1843, coming out (appropriately) on Christmas Eve.

A reopened museum and a steady run of appearances on TV have boosted sales at two Cambridge centres.

Thompson’s Galleries, specialist in Modern and Contemporary British art, is opening a third exhibition space this October.

This chromolithographed plate is one of 52 (of 55) included in a copy of Dickinson’s Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Anita Morgan, co-owner of The Hive in Cambridge, is an antique tile specialist and stands at the small annual niche tile fair in Nottingham organised by the Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society (TACS), which was held this year on October 2.

Yvonne and Andy Carter are Past Pastiche, organisers of small monthly antiques, vintage and collector’ fairs.

An auction record for John Aldridge (1905-83) was set at Lacy Scott & Knight (22.5% buyer’s premium) when a crisply painted still-life drew the attention of six phone bidders.

To mark its 130th year in business, long-running antiques and decorative arts specialist John Bly has launched a new venture.

Ian Grutchfield is venue director of Hadleigh Old School, a new art space in Suffolk.

A painted wooden shop sign that hung for many years from a store in Norwich sold at Norfolk’s newest auction house.

Jennifer Titmuss, organiser of the St Albans Antiques and Vintage Market and the Chiswick High Road Antiques and Vintage Market has an upbeat update.

The success of the 18-year old monthly Hingham Antiques Fair in Norfolk has meant a move for the fair to a larger venue.

Ticket requests are up as the East of England Showground prepares for the biannual antiques festival.

This near-complete Böttger Meissen tea set, c.1725, came for sale at Keys of Aylsham on September 1.

Stations, signal boxes and offices all depended on accurate timekeepers and just about every Victorian railway company commissioned clocks.

Suffolk auction house Bishop & Miller is launching a series of designated oak furniture and works of art sales with the input of former Bonhams specialist David Houlston.