North-west England

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.

Out-sold by the 100-times estimate £22,000 Japanese vase featured on last week’s News pages (ATG No 2380), this gold and silver-gilt chalice, right, offered at Lytham St Annes auction house Gerrards (18% buyer’s premium) on February 7 was a more predictable five-figure star.

Sapphires have been mined in Burma (now Myanmar) for over a millennium, the stones admired for their colour saturation and dark hues.

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.

An eight-day arched brass dial rolling moon-case clock, c.1750, is on offer for £3350 from Lancaster House Antiques at the next Galloway Antiques Fair at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire.

A rare blue-printed plate featuring the legendary cricketer WG Grace (1848-1915) is among the highlights at the Chester Antiques Fair.

If the Battle of Britain is your collecting field, then the sale of a Kent collection held in late 2018 would have been a major draw.

Dated c.1930, this Lenci figure of a girl in fashionable culottes, below, was estimated at £200-300 at Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) but appears to have been spotted as one of the rarer products of the Turin factory.

Three-day auction at Cumbrian saleroom demonstrates global reach of art and antiques.

This seasonal watercolour of figures ice skating in the Lake District (below) sold for a mid-estimate £3600 at local Cumbria saleroom Mitchells (20% buyer’s premium) on November 28.

Packed with job lots in many categories, the book section of a three-day antiques auction held at Mitchells (20% buyer’s premium) in the Cumbrian market town of Cockermouth heralded an intent to make such sales a regular feature.

A rare rocking horse by one of the top 19th-early 20th century makers, FH Ayres of London, left quite a lot to be desired but raced away at Adam Partridge’s (15% buyer’s premium) Macclesfield sale on November 23.

It has been a busy month for Broadhursts Bookshop owner Laurie Hardman.

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.

Two contrasting marine scenes, encapsulating the unpredictable nature of the sea, were offered at a recent sale at Mitchells (20% buyer’s premium) of Cockermouth in Cumbria.

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.