South-east England

THE extraordinary spat that has emerged over the existence of artist Pietro Psaier has taken another turn, with auctioneer John Nicholson pledging to publish the catalogue raisonée of his life and work.

A previously unheard tape of a Beatles recording session, in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney break into giggles and crack jokes, has fetched £10,000 at Cameo auctioneers in Midgham, Berkshire.

Isle of Wight firm Island Auction Rooms established a new record for a clock sold by a UK provincial auctioneer when this remarkable longcase took £240,000 on August 7.

This Carrs of Carlisle biscuit tin looks like pretty much any other Christmas biscuit tin from 1941 – except that it happens to be unopened.

A REAL rarity was offered by Sussex saleroom Tooveys of Washington on July 15 when this toll pass from 1744 came up for sale. Beautifully preserved in the original shagreen slipcase, this pass would seem to apply particularly to roads that fell within royal estates or administration rather than to a wider system of turnpike and toll roads.

Woking, Surrey auctioneers Barbers are to sell musical instruments belonging to the late Nat Temple (1913-2008) on August 4.

Is this the finest clock to be sold in England this year? The Isle of Wight auctioneers who will offer it for sale next month believe it is. It will be offered for sale by Island Auction Rooms (formerly Shanklin Auction Rooms) at their annual antiques sale timed to coincide with the influx of boating enthusiasts for Cowes Week on August 7.

THIS pottery figure of a cat is among the rarest of the Cubist-style felines designed by Louis Wain for the Austrian manufacturer Amphora.

A Kent dealer has received a two-year suspended sentence following a three-year international operation into ivory and whale-tooth smuggling. The case is the latest under Operation Charm, an ongoing campaign against the illegal trade in endangered species in London.

Morton and Eden have sold 41 Celtic gold coins found by a metal detectorist in Kent for £35,500. The coins, some of which are shown here, were found over a three-year period between 2003 and 2006, scattered over a ploughed field near Westerham in Kent, the precise location of which is being kept secret.

APPRENTICE Andy Cunningham will be among those displaying their skills at the Open Weekend being held at the Edward Barnsley Workshop near Petersfield from June 21-22.

Talbot Walk Antique Centre of Ripley, Surrey is to relocate to Dorking where it will take over the building currently trading as Great Grooms Antique Centre at 51-52 West Street.

SOMEWHERE on a shelf in a pub in the Midlands there may be five rare books that could throw a whole new light on the Brontë family.

Police are looking for a thief resembling this man who stole a valuable clock from an antiques shop in Kent on Sunday March 9.

Burglars made off with a large cache of Doulton figures and silver in a sophisticated raid on Bagham Barn Antiques of Chilham, Kent last month.

After five years of trading in Worthing, Gorringes have closed their saleroom on 44-46 High Street. In its place, one of their senior valuers will be opening up in his own name.

EASTER weekend saw the opening of The Antiques Storehouse at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Summers Place Auctions of Billingshurst, West Sussex, are to host The Glory Of The Garden in aid of St Catherine's Hospice, a Crawley-based charity, on May 16.

A DISTRICT court judge has dismissed a claim made against Holloway’s auctioneers regarding the condition report on an early wine bottle.

PROPERTY auctioneers Clive Emson have launched a fine arts division following the closure of auctioneers Hobbs Parker in Ashford, Kent.