Gloucestershire

There were two in the room when British Bespoke Auctions held a four-and-a half hour sale last week. On the rostrum on April 1, in an office rather than the saleroom (which is closed), was Nicholas Granger. Behind him was Bella, a blue-and-gold macaw who has been by his side for 20 years.

Two Italian Mannerist chalk drawings emerged as the top sellers in a section of Old Master drawings and prints at Cirencester saleroom Dominic Winter.

Two alluring early-20th century British school portraits of attractive young women caught the eye in recent regional sales. Both modestly estimated, they brought similar four-figure sums.

Rare works in South Cerney sale document the formative years of the Bank of England

Interest from bidders in more than 40 countries competed for what Stroud Auctions (18% buyer’s premium plus VAT) called a “world-class private collection of over 4000 military badges”.

This finely modelled Hellenistic white marble figure of Aphrodite sold for £60,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) at Dominic Winter in South Cerney on March 5. Bidding opened at £30,000, twice the low estimate, before bids were exchanged between the internet and the phones.

Arts & Crafts enthusiasts who hoped to buy a pair of Voysey chairs at something close to their £20-40 estimate at an auction in the Cotswolds were to be disappointed.

This set of table and chairs by the ever-popular Mouseman had been bought from the Kilburn workshops in the 1970s by the vendor’s parents.

Last year we featured the launch of the Malthouse Collective in Stroud, Gloucestershire. This offers 60 dealers and designers selling traditional antiques as well as interiors pieces and art from a listed former Victorian malthouse.

This portrait study is by Sybil Atteck (1911-75), a pioneering artist in Trinidad and Tobago of Chinese descent known for her work in watercolour.

Second-dibs sales at regional salerooms – those that follow after a major London auctioneer has cherry-picked the contents of a stately country house – can sometimes acquire the slighting epithet of ‘crumbs from a rich man’s table’.

Though best known for his epic depictions of fiery disaster, English Romantic painter John Martin (1789-1853) also produced a series of smaller, quieter works.

Early-17th century Lithuanian plan sold alongside companion Dnieper river details

Group of paintings by one of the less well-known masters of the medium comes to light

Star turn among some 120 lots of playing cards offered as part of a Stroud Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) sale was the last to be offered. A complete set of Charles Hodges’ Astronomical Playing Cards, it sold online for £3000.

As ever, the most recent sale held by Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) contained a great many maps and atlases and shown below is one of the highlights.

An early 17th century Limoges enamel draw purse attracted a flurry of bids at Chorley’s Attic Sale in Gloucestershire. Set with period portraits of a lady on one side and a gentleman on the other, the accessory has remained intact for about 400 years – in most examples the fabric has deteriorated significantly.

Two ‘Frost Fair’ broadsides printed at one of the many stalls set up on the Thames during a hard 18th century winter in which London’s river froze over were sold in a recent sale held by Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium).