North-west England

An eight-day longcase clock is a stand-out item of local interest at the upcoming Arley Hall Antiques and Fine Art Fair.

The world of Chinese art remains open to collectors on modest budgets if they look to some of the less fashionable wares, those from later periods and pieces that carry damage.

This portrait of an elderly gentleman tickled the taste buds of bidders when it was offered at Heliers Auction (18% buyer’s premium) in Lancashire.

Something of a rarity, To Iceland in a Yacht appears to have no other auction appearances to its name. It was privately printed in Edinburgh in 1873 for its author, the chemist Robert Angus Smith (1817-84), a man best known for his work on air pollution and his identification of what later came to be known as acid rain.

Having for decades been like one of those obscure religions in which passionate believers go about their business to the benign bemusement of everyone else, studio pottery is winning converts by the day.

A fresh-to-market consignment involving great names of Art Nouveau/Arts & Crafts and a New York buyer determined to have it… It hasn’t taken long for newcomer Heliers Auction (18% buyer’s premium) to come up with the sort of winning combination all auctioneers hope for.

Gene Hoyle, of Lancashire-based family firm Hoyles Promotions, which has been running busy weekly Sunday fleamarkets and car boots across north-west England for 40 years, is adding a “suitcase rummage” to his fleamarkets at Clitheroe Auction Mart in the Lancashire town.

Holker Hall, the privately owned country house in Cumbria, hosts its first fair in nearly 25 years this month.

In the flourishing market of British studio ceramics, a raft of new names is gaining traction.

Another classic piece of English furniture to go well above expectations was a Regency mahogany window seat in the style of George Bullock offered by the Cumbrian firm 1818 Auctioneers (17/12% buyer’s premium).

A 19th century painted print of a Maori took top honours at Heliers Auction (18% buyer’s premium) in Blackburn, Lancashire.

The year is well under way for Penman Fairs as it gears up for The Chester Antiques Fair.

The New Year is traditionally quiet in the salerooms but the 1800-lot Cheetham collection generated some real excitement at Adam Partridge (18% buyer’s premium) in Macclesfield.