Cheltenham

Among a flurry of historical portraits coming to the regional market at the start of this year, arguably the most notable appeared at Oxfordshire saleroom JS Fine Art (20% buyer’s premium).

These days, marketing a doll as Sindy’s saucy sister would be problematic. And the less said about outfits titled Hockey Honey or School Days, the better.

The outstanding jade offered in the regions in the October-December period was this pale celadon teapot and cover that came for sale at Duke’s in Dorchester on December 8 from a Dutch private collection where it had been since the 1980s.

This 7½in (19cm) Japanese wood netsuke shows the standing figure of Ashinaga with his arms outstretched.

This Ming period bronze weight comes in the form of a recumbent mythical beast.

A Maori hei-tiki pendant offered in Cheltenham on September 16 had an old paper label verso stating that it originally belonged to Makoare Te Taonui.

Edition marked the first time a person of African descent had work published

Mallams’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest Asian art sale was topped at £27,000 (estimate £3000-5000) by a Qing jade double gourd form snuff bottle.

“I’m expecting a 50-50 split from the exhibitors who follow my fairs and dealers local to the area”, said Nick Bayliss, talking about his new annual Festival of Antiques at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Michael Harris signature piece sells well at auction alongside Louis Osman silver spoons set

Good-quality campaign furniture has long been admired for its nifty portable designs, fine craftsmanship and rich provenance.

Collection in Cheltenham auction is latest in a series of valuable consignments with Ford family distinguished provenance

Miles Wynn Cato, a specialist in traditional Welsh and British art, is closing his gallery in Ludlow and relocating to Cheltenham.

Back in May, Bonhams sold 22 pen and ink drawings by Cecil Beaton (1904-80).

Brought back to England by 19th century travel writer Richard Ford, a carved alabaster relief of the Madonna watching over Christ was the outstanding lot from a Gloucestershire country house offered at Mallams Cheltenham (22.5% buyer’s premium).

The recent Mallams (22.5% buyer’s premium) live online sale of Chinese, Japanese and Islamic art in Cheltenham included Chinese works on paper and textiles from a relative of Katherine Talati (1922-2015).

Two institutions dominated bidding for the notebooks and correspondence of a significant Regency period female author at the Cotswold Auction Company in Cheltenham last week.

More refined items are available in Chorley’s Cotswolds Country House sale in Prinknash Abbey on November 19-20 but few will attract more attention than this rare survivor from the early 1940s: a roll of loo paper featuring satirical cartoons of characters from Nazi Germany.

Underlining the market move from antique furniture to 20th century craftsman design, a 1982-83 chest of drawers set a record for a work by Alan Peters at the Modern British Living sale at Mallams (22.5% buyer’s premium) in Cheltenham.

The fitted interior of this William & Mary casket, below, was later but its fine brass-bound marquetry exterior with hidden lock mechanism made it the most eye-catching lot at Mallams’ (22.5% buyer’s premium) auction in Cheltenham on June 6.