South-west England

At Frant there dwells a Man of fame. By trade a Tailor, Smart by name.

ATG talks to two collectors exhibiting works The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery in Exeter

The Higgs Deliverer ‘rake iron’ club was an attempt to solve a tricky golf problem: how to hit the ball out of sand, high grass or similar terrain.

William Nicholson (1872-1949) is known today for restrained and sensitively handled still-lifes but in his day he found more success with his portraits.

The Makuzu Kozan workshop was established by Miyagawa Kozan (1842- 1916) in Yokohama, one of the main portals of trade with the West, in 1871.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Found in a cigar box during an attic clearance and taken to Exeter auction house Bearnes, Hampton & Littlewood (25% buyer’s premium), seven framed daguerreotypes in poor condition provided one of the better sleepers of the year on November 22-23.

Commissioned by the 'Illustrated London Times' to document the construction of the mighty Great Eastern, the young photographer Robert Howlett (1831-58) took some of the most famous images of ship’s designer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-59).

Illuminated manuscript c.1470 is a highlight in Gloucestershire saleroom

Punch and Judy shows in Britain date back to as early as 1662 – recorded by Pepys – with origins in the charismatic 16th century Italian puppet Pulcinella.

A fine First World War silver presentation model of the Vickers FB5 or Gunbus made by Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company (London 1916) was sold together with two related photographs plus a copied letter of provenance at Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium).

A small watercolour titled A Sleeping Wayfarer by George Richmond (1809-96) roused a few bidders into action when it was offered at auction.

A group of five watercolours by Peter de Wint (1784-1849) that were previously kept at a Grade II-listed Oxfordshire country house caught the eye at a recent sale.

More than 20 yards of Morris & Co fabric and two Howard & Son chairs were among a group of lots consigned to auction in Wiltshire with a provenance to Haselbech Hall, Northampton, and the Bower Ismay family.

Some lucky youngsters were among the attendees at IACF’s Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair earlier this month.

The Stroud engineer Edwin Beard Budding (1796-1846) is considered the inventor of the lawnmower (1830) and the adjustable spanner (1842).

Among a number of sporting pictures generating decent interest at recent sales, this autumn Cheffins (24.5% buyer’s premium) posted the highest auction price for the hunting specialist Lionel Edwards (1878-1966) in over 12 years.

A clutch of good-quality traditional landscapes exceeded hopes at Exeter saleroom Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (25% buyer’s premium).

Tory politician acquired the artist’s watercolours before London dealer raised the profile

The Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) silver department sold a private collection of over 100 vinaigrettes assembled in the 1980s.