South-east England

A chinoiserie corner cupboard bearing the paper trade label of the Queen Anne furniture maker John Coxed has been sold by Oxfordshire dealership Alexander George Fine Antiques.

A large Persian lustre tile dating from c.1300 sold for £95,000 at John Nicholson’s in Haslemere last month.

While British studio potters were battling to break through in the 1930s, established factories, even Moorcroft, were struggling to survive the Great Depression.

This pastel portrait of a Singaporean merchant by Percy Carpenter (1820-95) is believed to have broken a 30-year auction record for the artist.

The May 22 sale at Dreweatts of Donnington Priory titled Japanese, Islamic and Indian Works of Art included a collection of Iznik and Damascus tiles from the estate of the artist Sir Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017).

As part of their first world tour, The Beatles played the Princess Theatre in Hong Kong twice in June 1964.

The hope at every house clearance came true for Reading auctioneer Chris Boreham when he unearthed this set of four Georgian silver rococo candlesticks at a local home.

In the Late Middle Ages the chaplet, made in many materials from boxwood to precious metals, was a commonplace aid to keep count of the repetition of prayers or the chapters read in a Book of Hours.

Two collections assembled since the late 1960s enthuse a fresh generation of buyers.

The furniture market continues to enjoy its occasional moments in the sun. During The Pedestal’s (25% buyer’s premium) sixth sale at Moor Park, Hertfordshire, on April 30 a George III carved mahogany octagonal tripod table (estimate £12,000-18,000) sold for £24,000.

One of the best pieces of early oak at spring provincial sales was an17th century carved oak mural livery cupboard sold at Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium) of Chichester.

Illustrated below is one of seven lots of Dutch ‘white metal ’ miniature tableware and furniture entered into a weekly general sale at Gorringe’s (21% buyer’s premium).

Police appeal after jewellery and cash worth £830,000 stolen in night heist

Target of a London silver specialist, this pair of late Victorian silver fluted vases was the best-seller at East Sussex auction house Burstow & Hewett (20% buyer’s premium).

Bookings are significantly up this year for the Fawley Decorative Fair which is held on the Fawley Hill estate near Henley-on-Thames and runs from Friday to Sunday, May 31-June 2.

In any ‘top 10’ list of 30th birthday party themes, a 1980s or ‘90s leitmotif ranks high.

Inherited Dutch Old Masters offered alongside recently acquired modern works by artists such as Walter Sickert, Edward Seago and Gerald Kelly proved a winning formula at Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) country house dispersal held on May 1 at Donnington Priory.