South-west England

Medal groups awarded to two members of the same family on offer at auction are not unknown but three together is definitely unusual.

Militaria has the advantage of a wide price range for items. A photograph sold in Cirencester on July 7 was a good example of ‘more affordable’ levels.

Tattooed from head to foot, this ‘Native of Nukahiva’ (in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia) features on one of the two frontispieces and a folding chart that form the illustrative content of the 1813, first English edition of Adam von Krusenstern’s 1803-06 Voyage round the World…

The Giant Flea and Collectors’ Market at the Royal Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet is almost fully booked inside with 200 stallholders.

A large oil painting offered at auction for first time depicts notorious figure from Charles II’s court and sells for five times top estimate.

Medals for service in the Falklands, Northern Ireland and long service/good conduct denote a busy 1980s career. In value terms, for a non-special forces unit, it means a price probably within £1000 at auction. But it is a single action lasting about 17 minutes from start to finish which explains why such a group on offer at Woolley & Wallis on November 22 is estimated at £20,000-30,000.

A 19th century painting depicting the death of Horatio Nelson soared to £21,500 at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on July 14.

MADAM – Regarding ATG’s coverage of the threat of closure to the Poole Pottery Studio (ATG No 2304 and antiquestradegazette.com), I feel it is imperative that some element of the production stays in Poole.

Naïve-style paintings of livestock remain one of the liveliest sectors of the 19th century pictures market, judging by the response to several examples offered in Gloucestershire.

A 19th century oak snuff box offered at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on July 11 was inset with copper and inscribed Made from the wreck of the Betsy Cains which brought King William to England 1688 and A.Reed Esq. Mayor 1827.

‘L’Abbé Quille’ (shown below), against whose leg a dog is seen relieving itself in the illustration, is one of 84 hand-coloured plates – 12 each of seven subjects – that make up a French magic trick book of c.1799 sold for £2900 by Dominic Winter (19.5% buyer’s premium) in a June 19-20 sale.

Little-known but well-connected artist proves a hit as his widow sells 40 works in Penzance.

Alex Robins of Antique Fairs Cornwall (AFC Fairs) has run her biannual two-day antiques, vintage and decorative fairs at the Royal Cornwall Showground for nine years.

After a 23-year career at Christie’s, where he was a director and international specialist in Asian art, Jeremy Morgan has joined Woolley & Wallis.

MADAM – Our estimate (£2000-4000) for Drummond’s Death of Nelson did indeed prove to be conservative but not quite as dismissive as the ‘£100-150’ quoted in the ATG might suggest (Bid Barometer, ATG No 2302).

Handsomely bound, a set of Gould’s Birds of Britain offered as part of the small but select Dorros ornithological library at Christie’s New York sale of June 15 failed against a $60,000-80,000 estimate, but in a Dominic Winter (19.5% buyer’s premium) sale of the previous day a very differently presented set brought a mid-estimate £36,000.