Cheshire

A 120 million-year-old fossilised ammonite is among the selection of decorative items on offer at the Chester fair following a change in ownership and focus.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales below £2000, including a pen and ink wash by Paul Sandby.

Until electricity became commonplace in homes, the power source of choice for the gramophone was a spring motor that required frequent winding. One unusual solution to silent interludes at the dinner dance was to power the device by hot air.

A model example of trans-European trucking, this diecast van advertising a Swiss company was made in Italy and sold to a German buyer at the Runcorn rooms of British Toy Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).

Marking 20 years in business, Clark Art is holding a show featuring works by some of the key artists it has championed across two decades.

Benefiting from the continuing fashion for late 19th century novelty mantel clocks, a gilt-brass and steel example by Guilmet made the running at Peter Wilson (22% buyer’s premium) of Nantwich.

A collection of Meissen figures, many by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-75) and his assistants, met keen interest at Adam Partridge’s (20% buyer’s premium) auction.

The floods which swept north-west England at the end of July involved major downpours hitting Congleton in Cheshire. This included Victoria Mill Antiques and Collectors’ Centre on the edge of town, which stayed open despite flood damage, as this Twitter picture below shows.

Cheshire auctioneer Adam Partridge is in talks with the administrator of Wright Marshall Fine Art Auctioneers to buy its Knutsford fine art business.

Organiser says expectations are high for new showground fair starting at end of the month.

When it comes to buying limited-edition prints by LS Lowry (1887-1976), those produced by one publisher in particular stand out above the rest for collectors.

A pad top bracket clock signed Mary Wignall and Sons Ormskirk is included at The Arley Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, the next event from Galloway Antiques Fairs.

Never wholly out of demand since top Victorian upholsterer Howard & Sons began producing furniture from its Soho premises, these built-for-comfort sofas and armchairs continue to excel whenever offered at auction.

An ancient Greek lekythos, which would have been used to smear perfumed oil on a woman’s skin before marriage, is one of the highlights at Art Antiques Cheshire.

What year was the Chester Golf Club established? This 19th century silver snuff box on offer for £565 from Acorn Antiques at The Chester Antiques Fair offers some key evidence on an debated issue of local history.

This rare pair of Minton majolica hen and rooster vases priced at £16,675 on the stand of Madelena will be among the highlights of the Arley Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair in Cheshire which runs from September 28-30.

Bill Clark runs Clark Art, which specialises in LS Lowry and modern British art, in Cheshire.

Hard-paste figures of Russian ethnic characters and workers have appeared at English auctions on a number of occasions in recent years (ATGs passim), generally to keen interest from the Motherland and eastern Europe.

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