Dorset

Estimated at just £200-300, a set of four early 20th century Chinese famille rose porcelain plaques depicting the four seasons in mountainous settings were bought by a phone bidder from Shanghai for £420,000 at Charterhouse of Sherborne in Dorset.

Duke’s of Dorchester will offer this 9in (23cm) shell made by Lino Tagliapietra (b.1934), a master glass blower in Murano, at auction next month.

Dorchester auctioneers Duke’s have unveiled plans for a new saleroom in the heart of the county town.

A Victorian diamond rivière necklace sold to an anonymous bidder for £190,000 at Duke’s of Dorchester earlier this month.

Picked from a trench in 1916, a poppy which is thought to be the only surviving example from the First World War sold for £5200 at Duke’s of Dorchester earlier this month.

This small sculpture conveying the raw horror of the First World War attracted serious competition at Duke’s of Dorchester.

Pearls and coloured stones remain strong – but, fuelled by interest from China (and, to a lesser, extent, the Middle East), so does amber.

Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse posted a new house record today when this 16.5in (42cm) maiolica istoriato charger sold for £460,000.

A 19th/early 20th century totem pole brightly painted and carved with a beaver, a bear, a whale and a surmounted eagle with outspread wings is to go under the hammer at Duke’s of Dorchester in Dorset on February 14.

This 2ft 5in x 2ft ½in (75 x 62cm) bust length portrait drew the attention of a number of bidders with a particular interest in historical pictures when it appeared at auction in Dorchester.

An exceptional find – a Roman white marble sarcophagus found in a Dorset garden – turned out to be something more of a rediscovery for Duke’s of Dorchester.

Duke’s of Dorchester’s annual vintage clothing auction on September 5 will include a Brussels lace wedding dress from c.1908.

This Victorian silver stirrup cup will be offered at Charterhouse Auctions in Sherborne, Dorset on August 23-24.

This is the season of agricultural shows and so Duke’s of Dorchester’s June 20 sale of British agricultural medals was well timed.

In keeping with this year’s jubilee celebrations, a collection of 10 photographs of King George VI and his immediate family, including Queen Elizabeth II, will be offered at Charterhouse Auctioneers on July 26-27.

What may be a record price for the Poole artist Guy Sydenham was achieved at Cottees of Wareham when a stoneware model of a baby rhinoceros sold for £5000 at their latest sale.

The latest sale at Duke’s of Dorchester included this 16in (41cm) wide French chinoiserie ormolu and lacquered bronze mantel clock c.1750.

Prints by Edward Wadsworth (1889-1949) are not a common sight on the market, but the Yorkshire-born artist who became a leading exponent of Vorticism was a prominent printmaker in the early stage of his career.

THE existence of the elephant – “nature’s great masterpiece... the only harmless great thing”, to use John Donne’s famous description – was well known to medieval Europeans, but captive pachyderms had disappeared from the continent shortly after the demise of the Roman Empire.

IT is symptomatic of the changes in the Poole pottery market that the joint top selling lot in a large specialist sale last month was a 1960s rimmed dish.