Devon

A vast collection of nearly 3500 diecast models fetched £120,000 at west country auctioneers Piers Motley. The lifetime collection of John Kinchen had been “well known in the Dinky world for decades”.

A rotting old caravan propped up on a farm might not sound like the kind of place you’d expect to discover a valuable family heirloom. But for a Devon-based furniture restorer, it proved just that when they found an Art Deco brooch believed to be a rare piece hiding within the contents of the van.

There was drama at the Stonepark auction rooms of Rendells near Ashburton when this Isnik fritware tile was hammered down at £155,000 at their latest sale.

A bomb disposal team were called to Whittons Auctioneers in Honiton last week to remove several potentially dangerous wartime bombs.

Distressing footage of a female staff member at a Devon antique shop being grabbed by a robber has been released in an attempt to track down the man

Two 15th century painted panels from an oak screen which is one of the finest examples of its kind have been ripped out by thieves at a Devon church.

The contents of a filling station saved from the bulldozer and then converted into a museum will be offered for sale in July.

This DFC medal group of a British Spitfire pilot who survived the war despite crashing and being given up for dead by his colleagues has an estimate of £8000-10,000 in Plymouth Auction Rooms’ November 21 sale.

In a marketplace seriously in need of entry-level collectors, the great majority of Royal Doulton character jugs and HN series figures are worth under £100 – and most of them less than £30 when sold without reserve at auction.

Two England caps awarded to West Ham goalkeeper Ted Hufton (1892-1967) are to be sold at Plymouth Auction Rooms on July 18.

Wind in the Willows characters Mole, Ratty and Toad are to go under the hammer at Michael Bowman of Newton Abbot in Devon on May 5.

Bids in the region of £1000-1500 are expected at Plymouth Auction Rooms on May 9 for this Eureka four-glass electric clock.

A DEVON auctioneer has issued a warning after seeing off fraudsters who tried to con him out of thousands of pounds worth of jewellery and silver through phone bids.

THE final lot of 233 offered at Michael Bowman's latest sale at the Chudleigh Town Hall, Devon was this limewood carving of a goose wing attributed to the Anglo-German artist Sir Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914).

HONITON in Devon is the first town to announce a major festival to mark National Antiques Week.

PIERS Motley has taken over the Bicton Street Auction Rooms in Exmouth from Martin Spencer-Thomas who has retired after 25 years as an auctioneer and valuer in Devon.

FOUR sketches by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais, found tucked inside covers of Led Zeppelin LPs, have been withdrawn from sale at Chilcotts auctioneers in Tiverton, Devon, because of a “misunderstanding over ownership” according to the auctioneers.

Led Zeppelin, Robert Burns and a 14-year-old John Everett Millais might seem unlikely bedfellows. But a group of four pencil drawings which have surfaced at the Devon auctioneers Chilcotts of Tiverton appear to link the three.

BEARNES Hampton & Littlewood have held their first sale at the newly renovated Dowell Street, Honiton saleroom which they took over from Bonhams' in January.

DEVON County Antiques Fairs (DCAF) are pulling out of the Westpoint Exhibition Centre in Exeter because of costs and the size of the venue.