East of England

Highlight of the June 24-2 Neal Sons & Fletcher was this Regency green marble-topped table. With brass scroll supports decorated with swan heads and a trefoil base veneered in burr walnut, and with ebony stringing and mouldings, the 2ft 2in (66cm) diameter, 4ft 4in (1.32m) high table had been ensconced in a local country house for many years.

NORFOLK fair organiser Liz Allport-Lomax has been in business as Lomax Antiques Fairs for nigh on 12 years and in that time has made the East Anglian fairs scene her own, wisely concentrating all her efforts on the area she knows and not straying too far from her home turf.

THIS weekend from July 11 to 13 Essex organiser Robert Bailey returns to his top provincial venue, Tatton Park, near Knutsford for the 34th Cheshire Summer Antiques and Fine Art Fair.

Pictured on the front cover of the 530-lot catalogue offered by Suffolk auctioneers Abbotts (10 per cent buyer’s premium) on March 12 was a group of Moorcroft pottery assembled by a Southwold collector over the past 25 years.

FEW images conjure up the nail-biting adventures of John Buchan more than Richard Hannay’s flight across the grouse moors of Scotland in the author’s best-known story, The Thirty Nine Steps.

ON the same day as Whyte’s Dublin sale, the Irish theme continued this side of the water at Essex when Sworders (15 per cent buyer’s premium) offered a drawing by Sir William Orpen (1878-1931) at their Stansted Mountfichet rooms on April 29 – a 16 by 14in (40 x 35cm) signed pencil and coloured washes piece entitled The Furniture Painter.

The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre at Cambridge University have set out a list of short- and long-term objectives to help restore works to the museums of Iraq.

BUSY Norfolk organiser Liz Allport-Lomax has been quite quiet of late, having cancelled her February fixture at Norwich due to problematic parking. But Lomax Antiques Fairs are now back on the road with their first fair of the year, the third annual North Norfolk Fine Art and Antiques Fair at Sussex Barn, Burnham Market over the Easter weekend from April 19 to 21.

IT’S not often that Britain recovers a highly important work from the United States – most of the traffic is usually the other way. However, Norfolk Museums Service are celebrating silver dealer Christopher Hartop’s triumph in negotiating the return of Sir Robert Walpole’s sterling silver tureen, which has now been put on show in the silver gallery at Norwich Castle.

THE COVER of the catalogue issued by Cheffins for their Cambridge sale of March 19 made clever use of what I take to have been the coloured title of the 1794 French edition of Moses Harris L’Aurelien... that they sold for £4800. In rubbed red morocco gilt, this famous study of moths and butterflies was a large paper copy illustrated with 44 coloured plates, with text in French and English.

The death of Walter Moorcroft last year and the strong prices at Sotheby’s recent dispersal of the Wade collection have reinforced the popularity of this market, especially for the earlier Macintyre wares. A small collection at Bonham’s sale in Bury St Edmunds yielded the following results.

ON December 10 Cambridge auctioneers Cheffins (15% buyer’s premium) offered the residual contents from the home of amateur painter and gallery owner Olive Cook, whose early friendships with Henry Moore and Eric Ravilious helped hone her artistic eye.

THE sad plight of silver is as well known as the boom in all Arts and Crafts pieces – what happens when the two come together was the question at Sworders’ sale when this pair of plated candlesticks, right, were offered.

A VENDOR who believes an auctioneer’s negligence cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds says he will sue despite leading experts dismissing the disputed piece as a 20th century reproduction.

Auctioneer Geoffrey Barfoot has noted increased activity at the general sales in the Campsea Ashe rooms of Abbotts (10% buyer’s premium) and the mood has spread to fine art – “provided the lots are fresh to market and good or rare”.

It’s difficult to imagine how many children and would-be children have enjoyed a trip on this very original ride since it was first constructed by Savage Bros Ltd of Kings Lynn in 1901. Known as Harry Lee’s Famous Steam Double Yacht Ride, its two yachts, Columbia and Shamrock, carry an impressive capacity of 30 passengers.

THERE was only one spectacular price but plenty of exceptional results at this vast Essex dispersal at Sworder's, September 10-11 (Buyer's premium: 15 per cent) – a reminder to the trade that quality goods may be hard to find but wider margins can be made from low-value material.

The Norfolk auctioneers Keys got a lot of media exposure in March when they took a bid of £22,000 for a collection of letters, cards, etc, written by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, to a Mrs Pendrey, a long-term employee and friend from her Althorp days, but in this sale another small selection of letters, apparently from the same source, failed to sell against an estimate of £7500-10,000.

It wasn’t until Campbell Archibald Mellon (1876-1955) retired from business at the end of the First World War that he devoted himself to painting. He moved to Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk and the bulk of his artistic output is focused on the beaches and holidaymakers in the area.

THE Essex auctioneers Ambrose had hoped the unusual top lot in their 561-lot sale on 19-20 July would fetch more, but bidding on the set of ten gothic-style Victorian mahogany dining chairs was hampered by their non-commercial design.