South-west England

This gold pair-cased pocket watch was brought into the offices of Charterhouse auctioneers of Sherborne, Dorset in a plastic carrier bag – albeit a Harrods bag – by a vendor who had kept it in his sock drawer for many years.

SOLD at £1200 to Jarndyce in this sale of photographs, historical documents, autographs and ephemera was an 1838 manuscript of The Student, a play by Frederick Bate.

“It was like the 1970s all over again,” said John Benjamin of Woolley and Wallis, describing the breadth of quality at his jewellery sale in Salisbury on April 24-25.

ROBERT Lenkiewicz, one of Britain’s most controversial artists, has been burgled for the third time in five weeks in what is widely believed to be a ‘stolen to order’ theft.

HAMPSHIRE organiser Valerie Sleeney of Grandma’s Attic Fairs holds the first staging of the year of her flagship event at The Pavilion Ballroom, Bournemouth on April 27 and 28.

Limoges enamel has its English equivalent in the rustic little boxes produced by artisans in the South Staffordshire towns of Bilston and Wolverhampton during the late 18th century.

Two small locally consigned lots provided the best seller and cover lot at the buoyant March 23 sale held by Michael J. Bowman (15% buyer’s premium) at Chudleigh Town Hall.

The season has not quite begun, but this late 18th century cricketing badge enjoyed a long innings at Duke’s Dorchester salerooms on April 11-12.

Echoing encouraging sentiments of provincial auctioneers across the UK, Bristol Auction Rooms specialist David Rees felt “the trade were more comfortable buying for stock” at his March sale than in previous months, adding: “It was the best sale we’ve had since November.”

A CONMAN with an “appalling record”, who cheated antique dealers across the country has been jailed for six years at Salisbury Crown Court.

What will £1500 buy in today’s picture market? If quality is going to be my criterion and oil painting is my medium, then not very much, one might be forced to conclude after reading the latest report on how the market is polarising between an increasingly expensive best and a totally undesirable rest.

Decorative arts are especially popular in this part of the West Country, where New Age culture and the wealth of new technology has created a sympathetic market for antiques in general and the arts and crafts in particular.

A series of strong bids brought a total of £51,900 for a Chelsea fable painted part-tea service at Lawrence’s of Crewkerne on March 14.

Shortly before her execution at Fotheringay Castle in 1587, Mary Queen of Scots gave this portrait ring, right, to her lady in waiting, Mary Strickland, as a keepsake. This was the story told to Devon auctioneer Robin Fenner by the vendor, whose late mother was the last of the Boynton Stricklands.

THE move towards holding specialist sales among provincial auctioneers has been one of the success stories recent years and one that is paying dividends for Salisbury’s Woolley & Wallis in one of the most arcane worlds – that of carpets and textiles.

Perfect conditions were required for the production of 18th century soft paste porcelain, but work only began on this rare group, right, after three ships laden with 44 factory staff and 88 tons of equipment had been ferried from Italy to Spain.

THE Taunton rooms of Greenslade Taylor Hunt (10 per cent buyer’s premium) were graced with the presence of a “minor media celebrity”, on St. Valentine’s day when this rare Steiff rod-jointed teddy bear, right, known as Percy, made an appearance.

Top seller at a brisk day’s bidding at the Cheltenham sale held by Mallams (15% premium) on January 31 was a pair of classical style gilt metal and lapis lazuli urns and covers, one shown right.

THE COPY of Colonel William Fitzpatrick’s Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul... that sold for £380 in this Somerset sale at Greenslade Taylor Hunt on 13 December was not a great one.

NOT the priciest offering at Exeter auctioneers Hampton & Littlewood (15% buyer’s premium) on January 30, but undoubtedly the most interesting was this early 19th century automaton right, made from bone.