North-west England

The 33 pieces of ‘Mouseman’ furniture on offer at Carlisle auction house Thomson Roddick (20% buyer’s premium) all came from a Cumbrian Georgian country house where they had been since at least before 1950.

The Vintage Home Show runs in three locations including the atmospheric and restored Victoria Baths in Manchester

The theft of an Elizabethan silver chalice in Dorset has sparked fears it could be the latest in a spate targeting churches across the country.

The best-selling lot in a recent Carlisle auction was a 1919, Collins first of Heritage, the debut novel of Vita Sackville-West, who at that time was better known for her poetry.

This rare rock and pop poster advertises a performance by ‘Bazooka Joe’ with ‘Support Band’ at the common room of St Martin’s Art School on November 6, 1975. Entrance was 50p.

Alex Styles (1922-2017) was in 1966 given a glowing accolade in The Times: “Many think he is the finest designer of hand-made silver in England.”

The final proof coin set bearing Queen Victoria’s portrait was issued by the Royal Mint in two sets in 1893.

Enamelled imperial eagle tankards or 'reichsadlerhumpen' – large three or four-litre glass drinking vessels enamelled with the 56 coats of arms and the quaternion eagle of the Holy Roman Empire – were popular from the 16th to the late 18th century.

A prayer book once owned by a priest who helped Charles II hide after defeat at the Battle of Worcester, and later heard his death-bed confession, has sold at auction to a national heritage organisation.

Textile Society’s annual fair is part of a drive to help fund ways of bringing in fresh talent to the field.

Shown here is what would be an arachnophobe’s nightmare: one of the 29 hand-coloured engraved plates that illustrate a copy of John Blackwell’s 'History of Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland'.

The Adam Partridge (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Macclesfield on March 2 included a tazza from an important historical Sèvres service.

The potter George Cartlidge, who worked for Sherwin & Cotton in Hanley for close to 30 years, is best known as the designer of Arts & Crafts Morris Ware.

This pair of English Regency bronze candlesticks in Egyptian revival taste sold for £1800 at Laidlaw (20% buyer’s premium).

While they may not appear such comfortable bedfellows today, the novel weapons of mass destruction created during the First World War were deemed a perfectly suitable subject for novelty trinkets of the day.

The slide rule shown here belonged to Dhunjeebhoy Rustomjee, who came from a fine line of Indian master ship builders in ancestry.

Lot sold for multiple-estimate sum in Cumbrian sale relates to a notorious election in Northumberland

The Chester Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair is an important moment in the calendar for collectors in north Wales and the north-west of England where there are few major collector events to choose from.