South-west England

Despite recent developments in the case against the notorious Johnson family, including the recovery of stolen antiques in Worcestershire, innumerable valuable works of art remain at large.

THIS George IV silver-gilt presentation vase and stand by Philip Rundell, London 1823, was the highlight of the so-called Russell silver, a £250,000 cache of Regency plate by Paul Storr and Philip Rundell sold by Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis.

WILTSHIRE auctioneers Netherhampton Salerooms were celebrating a new house record on March 3 after a disbound album of Far Eastern topographical drawings sold for £43,000.

Bearnes, Hampton & Littlewood (BHL) are not seeking to recover a cache of gold and jewellery accidentally sold as part of a lot in their 2006 sale of Agatha Christie effects.

EWBANK Clarke Gammon Wellers of Surrey have extended their influence south west by forming a strategic alliance with Bournemouth auction house Riddetts.

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

ON June 24, Gloucestershire auctioneers Chorley's will offer for sale this enormous 47 x 47ft (14.3 x 14.3m) reconstruction of the Orpheus pavement, a Roman mosaic.

A REWARD of £50,000 is being offered in the bid to recover more than £1m worth of art stolen in a violent theft from a private collector in Bruton, Somerset.

DORCHESTER saleroom Duke's achieved the highest price for a UK regional auctioneer so far this year when this Qianlong mark and period vase sold at £625,000 on February 11.

A PAIR of silver-gilt waiters made by William Burwash for William Beckford, “the wealthiest commoner in England” who built the lavish Gothic Revival Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire, sold for £36,000 at auction last week.

IT was undoubtedly a challenging year for many but two of the UK’s leading regional art and antiques salerooms enjoyed record sales in 2009.

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

THE St Ives studio that housed Sir Terry Frost, Peter Blake and Francis Bacon has won a £900,000 restoration grant.

JUST as Asian Art in London got underway, a surprise regional highlight emerged in Devon. A pair of 18th century Chinese Export pheasants were consigned for sale at Plymouth Auction Rooms by a local vendor, whose family had owned the birds for at least three generations.

ESTIMATED at £800-1200, this Victorian silver ewer modelled as a kangaroo sold for £24,000 at Chorley's of Prinknash Abbey, Gloucestershire on October 22 to a London dealer on the telephone who saw off competition from Australia and France.

METASTASIS, to most people, is a word with rather grim connotations – referring as it does to the spread of cancer. Applied to a set of playing cards, however, it has an altogether different and more attractive meaning.

THE Gloucester Antique Centre has appointed a new general manager.

According to legend, during the English Civil War, a Royalist descendant of Sir Christopher Harris (c.1553-1625) of Radford, Devon, hid the family silver in a cave before fleeing, fearing for his life.

THIS portable regulator signed Thwaites and Reed, London sold for £16,500 (plus 19.5 per cent buyer's premium) at Lawrences of Crewkerne, Somerset on July 10.

This 113/4in (29cm) high slate sculpture titled Maquette for Large Sculpture: Four-Square (Four-Circle) was the first that Penzance auctioneer David Lay had offered for sale.