North-east England

A man from Sunderland who forged the work of local artist Norman Cornish (1919-2014) was jailed for three years and seven months last week.

Unless you have been in a galaxy far, far away for quite some time, you will have heard of Luke Skywalker, Ewoks and Han Solo. But have you heard of a Vlix?

It might not be a Bag for Life but this plastic bag has set a collector back £240.

A 19th century singing bird box is a starring lot at an upcoming County Durham auction that features several animal-themed lots.

A historic jewellers in Bolton is in the process of closing after reporting that the decline of the high street and the rise of the internet made trading impossible for them.

North-eastern auctioneers Addisons are closing down after almost a century in business.

A previously unpublished book of ceramic designs that could shed new light on the work of Dr Christopher Dresser goes on public view for the first time during a three-day festival celebrating the life and work of the Victorian designer.

The toy ripped open from plastic and cardboard may bring joy to a child – but it is the simple packaging that makes the big money when that child becomes a collector with an eye on pounds, not play value.

The centrepiece of Anderson & Garland’s sale in Westerhope, near Newcastle, last month was the eclectic Walton Temple collection.

Six years ago, Ingrid Nilson of The Antiques Dealers Fair Limited held her first ‘Luxury Antiques Weekend’ in Northumberland, at Linden Hall Hotel Golf & Country Club near Morpeth.

An 18th century casket made from fragments of Chinese porcelain has been bought by the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

A Nobel Peace Prize medal stolen from the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House in Newcastle is still missing despite a 21-year-old man being jailed for the theft.

The Christopher Dresser Society will be launched at Teesside University on June 20.

Collectables specialist Fred Wyrley-Birch at Anderson & Garland was seriously impressed by this micromosaic plaque, offered for sale at Westerhope, near Newcastle in their latest fine art sale. And so were buyers.

Rare items stolen during a robbery at the Lord Mayor of Newcastle’s Mansion House include a gold Nobel Peace Prize awarded in the 1930s to Arthur Henderson, a pioneer of the Labour Party and campaigner for disarmament.

On March 6, Boldon Auction Galleries in East Boldon, Tyne and Wear are offering for sale this 12in (30.5cm) high cold-painted, gilt-bronze and ivory figure by Demetre Chiparus.

Getting the New Year off to a good start at Addisons of Barnard Castle, County Durham, a 20th century blue and white porcelain table screen by the renowned Chinese ceramic artist Wang Bu (1898-1968) improved upon an estimate of just £130-150 to sell for £34,300.

This Dinky pre-War delivery van advertising Maison De Bonneterie’s flagship department store in Amsterdam will appear at Vectis in Thornaby, near Stockton-on-Tees on October 17.

A pair of rugs signed Francis Bacon, and thought to relate to the artist’s early career as an interior decorator, have been withdrawn from sale for the second time in three years.