Buckinghamshire

A group of Victorian rowing memorabilia generated plenty of bidding at Claydon Auctioneers (19.5% buyer’s premium) in Buckinghamshire on June 25-26.

Ahead of David Messum’s major show of British paintings in London and Marlow, the veteran dealer tells ATG about his long career – and how he relaxes on a terrace in Corfu with a paintbrush and a G&T

Interest from both the UK and abroad emerged in Buckinghamshire when two abstract paintings by Paul Feiler (1918-2013) came up at a recent Claydon Auctioneers (19.5% buyer’s premium) sale.

This 9in (22cm) vase by the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory is signed and dated 1929 for Aleksey Vorobyevsky (1906-92)

Rachel Toy’s love of vintage started with trips to car boots sales with her mum in the 1980s and ignited a particular interest in 1960s and 1970s homeware. Today she runs Rachel’s Vintage Retro based in Pitstone in east Buckinghamshire.

Found at a flea market, this tin-glazed earthenware mug sold for £12,000 (plus 19.5% buyer’s premium) at Claydon Auctioneers.

Two large-scale murals by leading Modern British artists have been purchased by The Rothschild Foundation from dealer Liss Llewellyn.

Though the dust jacket featuring one of Pauline Baynes’ illustrations for the book is torn with loss and exhibits a number of patched repairs, a 1950 first edition of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' did sell for £1100 against a guide of £500-700 on October 6 at Buckinghamshire saleroom Bourne End Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium).

Estimated at £120-150, this modest 7in (17cm) high Chinese export silver golfing trophy sold for £5500 at Bourne End Auction Rooms (17.5% buyer’s premium).

Five years ago Lewis Walduck was a 13-year-old horology-mad schoolboy when he took over the small monthly antiques fair held in the village of Brill in Buckinghamshire.

Estimated at just £60-100, a pair of Georgian portrait miniatures sold online for £2900 at Amersham Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium) on January 6.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the Nobel prize-winning poet, writer, composer, philosopher and social reformer, began to practise as an artist aged 60.

Pictured here are two early English pottery tankards – both of them documentary pieces.

Estimated at £400-600, this 7in (17cm) high Chinese export silver dragon handled tankard sold for a much higher sum.

Although catalogued as 19th century, this 10½in (27cm) maiolica dish is more probably 16th century.

Eight phone bidders competed for this splendid ebony and pietra dura table casket offered at a recent auction at Claydon Auctioneers in Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire.

Among works by eastern European artists in demand recently, two pictures by modern Polish artists led the sale at a Buckinghamshire auction.

Bentley owners and fanciers had the opportunity to acquire some scarce memorabilia in a spring sale at Bourne End Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium).

First published in the UK as a ‘Collins Crime Club’ title in 1970, an Agatha Christie novel brought a bid of £850 at Claydon Auctioneers (19.5% buyer’s premium).

Three small sketches of polar scenes caught the attention at a recent auction held by Lawrences (20% buyer’s premium) of Bletchingley in Surrey.