Cheshire

Collector’s daughter describes what it was like to grow up amid huge musical machines

The British Toy Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) sale on January 8 in Runcorn included several Pelham Puppets rarities.

Petrol-themed enamel signs do not get much better than that made to promote British Dominions Empire Motor Insurance in c.1912.

This textbook William and Mary longcase clock is from the workshop of Joseph Windmills, one of the finest clockmakers in late 17th century London.

A Military Cross group awarded to a soldier who carried a fallen comrade through fierce gunfire in Iraq sold at £36,000 (plus 20% buyer ’s premium) in Macclesfield on September 11.

Dealer Benjamin Aardewerk has been in the trade for more than 25 years. He is the husband of Holly Johnson who recently opened a new showroom in Knutsford.

Auction house Adam Partridge is to remodel its calendar, moving away from large multi-discipline sales in favour of more frequent specialised events.

International bidders competed online and by phone against the UK trade and collectors for a group of 18th century Meissen figures offered at Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) in Macclesfield.

The appetite people have for the return of fairs and markets is summed up by Alice Roberton from Arthur Swallow Fairs talking about the specially adapted, fully outdoor Covid-19 antiques and salvage market on Saturday, June 27.

Most surviving 17th century brown salt glaze vessels were made in Germany, typically in Frechen, close to the city of Cologne.

As antiques businesses prepare to reopen across the country, Holly Johnson Antiques is set to launch a new showroom in Knutsford, Cheshire.

More previously unrecorded porcelain attributed to the John Bartlam factory of Cain Hoy, South Carolina, has emerged for sale in the UK.

Four military maps encompassing Siam (Thailand), Hong Kong, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia took an unexpected £3700 at the Peter Wilson (22% buyer’s premium) Arms, Militaria, Medals & Firearms auction earlier this year.

London became the training ground for many young South African artists during the inter-war years. Among them was Cape Town painter Freida Lock (1902-62) who attended Heatherley School of Art and the Central School of Art where she was introduced to the works of post-Impressionists such as Van Gogh, Cézanne and Braque.

Red jackets and white helmets looked lovely on the parade ground but in the modern world of warfare developing at the end of the 19th century they also made fine targets for accurate long-range rifles.

As one of the most meticulously made pedal cars ever produced, the Austin J40 is always a target when it comes to auction.

“Although hailing from the north west of England and having close ties to many of the important Northern artists, Geoffrey Key (b.1941) has never really strived to be associated with this school and as such has a more universal, broader appeal and freedom to expand his painting horizon.”

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.