Cheshire

Perhaps the rarest of all Beswick’s output is the pit pony figure Spirit of Whitfield.

This late 19th century necklace offered by Peter Wilson's latest sale in Nantwich is a spectacular example of Grand Tour jewellery. Most Georgian or Victorian gentlemen keen to display an appreciation of classical art were satisfied to purchase just one or two hardstone intaglios as a souvenir.

Originally considered just another 20th century burr oak tallboy among a stack of material from a house clearance brought into the Hazel Grove rooms of Maxwells (15% buyer’s premium), opinions changed when a carved mouse was noticed on the lower left leg.

Helped by a revival of interest in traditional music, the market for the best antique concertinas has accelerated in recent years. Prices for some models have trebled across the decade.

More than 600 people crowded into Clark Art in Cheshire on June 15 for the opening night of its annual exhibition on northern English painting.

Major dealers remain confident about the market for top-level English 18th century ceramics. At lower levels, however, the disappearance of so many dedicated collectors continues to take its toll.

An age away from the controversy, skulduggery and sky-high prices that have too often characterised the antiquities market of late, the world of the quiet academic’s study came to the Macclesfield rooms of Adam Partridge (15% buyer’s premium) on April 6-7.

One of the surprises at Peter Wilson’s April 26- 27 sale was a tinplate clockwork pram pushed by a woman stamped Burnett Limited, London, Made in England.

The Cubist-inspired oils of Manchester artist Geoffrey Key (b.1941) regularly feature at Peter Wilson (20% buyer’s premium) in nearby Nantwich.

A rare version of one of the most popular of Beswick farm figures, a shire horse in a piebald gloss finish, pulled its weight at The Auction Centre (16% buyer’s premium) in Runcorn on March 18.

Among the picture highlights of Peter Wilson’s (24% buyer’s premium) Fine Art Sale on March 2 in Nantwich was a coastal sunset scene by prolific Birkenhead artist Samuel John Lamorna Birch (1869-1955).