Somerset

Auction house Lawrences of Crewkerne is no stranger to stand-out objects from China after a remarkable vase sold at 150-times its estimate in January.

Police memorabilia collectors and phone fans could be tempted to dial in to a Somerset auction offering a rare Metropolitan Police phone box.

Drawing spectacular bidding at Lawrences of Crewkerne, this rare Chinese altar vase was knocked down at over 150-times estimate at the Somerset saleroom’s latest fine art auction. It was thought to have been specially commissioned by the Qing court for ceremonial use in palaces and temples.

A photograph album of the ‘real Downton Abbey’ has been revealed after 120 years and will be up for auction next month.

Certain moments in films stay razor sharp in the mind long after you have seen them. Mention ‘Jack Nicholson’ and it is odds-on a mental image will spring up of that terrifying ‘Here’s Johnny’ scene from The Shining.

This 21in (54cm) wide ‘Indo-Portuguese’ ivory inlaid hardwood fall front cabinet sold for an extraordinary £43,000 at Lawrences of Crewkerne.

Irishman Harry Clarke (1889-1931) made his reputation as a book illustrator whose work straddled the passing Art Nouveau and the coming Art Deco movements.

This ice pick belonged to the explorer James W. Dell who accompanied Scott on his first effort to reach the South Pole in 1901-04, serving as an able seaman aboard the ‘Discovery’.

The art market in the New Year traditionally gets off to a rather slow start with just a scattering of fairs, dealer shows and auctions taking place in the first half of January.

Maybe I’m biased, but I find it hard to think of a more diverse, passionate, interesting and occasionally downright bonkers bunch of people than antiques dealers.

This 1½in (3.5cm) Japanese ivory okimono stole the show at Tamylns’ in Bridgwater, Somerset when it sold to a telephone bidder for £13,000.

The Wemyss factory in Fife has become almost exclusively associated with its distinctive, personable pottery pigs and Lawrences’ sale in Crewkerne on January 17 contains four pleasing porkers in various sizes and patterns.

It was the emergence of the very useful but somewhat hazardous ‘strike anywhere’ match in the 1830s that necessitated the fashion for vesta cases.

This large, scratch-built 5in gauge Great Western Railway locomotive is one of two being sold at Lawrences of Crewkerne on November 2, with both expected to realise £3000-4000.

Previously only known from a 1910 print and unrecorded for half a century, this 20in x 2ft 6in (50 x 75cm) oil by John William Godward (1861-1922) was sold by Lawrences in Crewkerne on October 12.

Joy Barnes (b.1912), a life-long artist and local Somerset resident who turns 100 next month, was present in the saleroom to watch her collection of Modern British art and studio ceramics sold by Greenslade Taylor Hunt in Taunton.

Previously only known from a 1910 print and unrecorded for half a century, this 20in x 2ft 6in (50 x 75cm) oil by John William Godward (1861-1922) will be offered by Lawrences in Crewkerne on October 12.