South-west England

When it comes to the value of classic railway station signs, key factors include: is the site now disused? Was it from a holiday resort? Is it an early design?

The work of artist and art historian Tom Cross (1931-2009) is showcased this autumn with an exhibition spanning two Cornish venues.

Three-inch globes were mostly sold as pocket globes, typically as a terrestrial globe contained within a ray-skin case with the celestial gores for the heavens pasted inside.

Wotton Auction Rooms has a new ownership structure as Joseph Trinder re-joins the business.

The sale of Enamel Signs, Automobilia and Advertising at Chippenham Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium) on July 29 included a rare pictorial enamel design depicting the Mauretania at full steam advertising Holzapfels Composition.

Anthropomorphic bird jars are typically associated with the work of the Martin Brothers in Southall, London.

This carved marble portrait head of a youth shown here is Roman and comes from a tightly dated period of the 2nd century.

Two portraits and a shipping scene by the Newlyn School artist were consigned from three different sources

Further details of a new fair taking place in Cornwall have been announced.

A handsome portrait with a princely provenance was among a group of intriguing Old Masters offered at a Gloucestershire saleroom

One of the most popular fleas in the country has been very busy this year, both with the numbers of stallholders and visitors, says the organiser.

While the ‘peak season’ for Old Master sales in the UK traditionally falls twice a year in early July and December, coinciding with the flagship sales in the London rooms, notable lots nevertheless appear throughout the year at auctions around the country.

One of two texts in a single volume revealed after eager bidding to be by Hungarian Jesuit

The Ancient Order of Froth Blowers was a British charitable organisation established in the decade after the First World War ‘to foster the noble Art and gentle and healthy Pastime of froth blowing among Gentlemen of-leisure and ex-Soldiers’.

Lawrences’ (30% buyer’s premium) summer sales series in Crewkerne included a Charles II period stumpwork casket.

The precursor to the Woolley & Wallis Fine Jewellery sale on October 25 is a single-owner catalogue devoted to the collection of Jean Louis Chameroy (1946-2020).

By the mid-18th century, as the fashion for the pannier dress reached its peak, some women wore dresses measuring 7ft (2.13m) wide.

Jewellery from the estate of Ella Naper (1886-1972) was offered at Lay’s (21% buyer’s premium) in Lanner, Cornwall on August 10-11.

This elegant Victorian clear glass claret jug of neoclassical design featured in the July 27 sale at Kinghams (25/18/15% buyer’s premium).