South-west England

OVER 50 autograph letters and postcards addressed by Siegfried Sassoon to Professor Vivian de Sola Pinto are to be sold by Mill House Auctions of Helston on November 4, together with signed and inscribed copies of Sassoon’s books from de Sola Pinto’s library.

A REMINDER that there is still some time to catch the 18 special exhibitions mounted by members of The Cotswolds Antique Dealers Association as part of their annual exhibitions fortnight, and this year to celebrate the association’s 25th anniversary. The shows are scheduled to close on October 25, but I am sure there will still be some exhibition items on sale after that date.

This 10in (25cm) Burleigh Ware pottery wall plate, by Charlotte Rhead established a new auction record for the industrial ceramicist when it sold for £2900 (plus 10 per cent buyer’s premium) at Andrew Hartley Fine Arts on October 8. Consigned to the Ilkley rooms via a local house clearance, the vibrantly-coloured plaque carried the pattern number 4350, a design previously known only from pattern books dated to c.1928-29.

Sad news. The drunken rats and the two-faced lamb have finally parted company.

High quality mahogany carcase furniture continues to transcend any malaise experienced at other levels of the furniture market. The final lot of a small but nicely formed sale conducted by Finan & Co. at the Old Ship Hotel in Mere, Wiltshire on October 4 was this fretwork and blind fret decorated Chippendale-style and period mahogany library bookcase.

First introduced c.1809, the ‘Caramanian’ series represent one of Spode’s most popular early 19th century pattern ranges.

WHEN it comes to the traditional English country house nothing is more redolent of the look of the Victorian and Edwardian periods than the old tack and gun rooms of the country lodge, replete with saddles, whips, boots and mounted trophies such as perch and stag.

FOR Harvey's read Bristol Cream, but there is far more to this celebrated brand than the nation’s best known sherry.

BEFORE I am inundated with complaints that Cotswolds clock specialists Jeffrey Formby Antiques are not members of CADA (although they are members of BADA) I know they are not, but their selling exhibitions held over two weekends in October do neatly complement the CADA shows which do not include a clocks dealer.

THE pleasingly freely painted, if sometimes rather dark, evocations of the English countryside by Wiltshire artist Harry Fidler ((1856-1935) regularly fetch respectable prices in the £1000-5000 range when they come up for auction.

THE Somerset auctioneersGreenslade Taylor Hunt were taking a bullish view about August sales. A month of “traditionally smaller sales and fewer buyers but not in Taunton” was the official line after a two-day event of more than 2100 lots on 28-29 August.

FAIRS dominate the diary this week as they do the current trade scene generally, but that it not to say dealers have forgotten the arts of self-promotion. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of his business, J. Collins & Sons, Devonshire dealer John Biggs is best known as a period furniture dealer. But he always carries a good stock of paintings and holds his 47th picture show at his showrooms at 28 High Street, Bideford this month.

WELL-established, and increasingly a summer favourite, the South Cotswolds Antiques Fair will be mounted by Cooper Antiques Fairs at Westonbirt School, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire this weekend from August 29 to 31. There are three Westonbirts a year but, with nigh-on 70 exhibitors, this is the biggest.

HAMPTONS re-open their Marlborough salerooms this week after a refurbishment that has taken the best part of a year. John Haycraft, formerly of Phillips, will head up the team there and will be assisted by Sarah Eames, who comes from outside of the industry.

The Somerset-based restoration and conservation specialists Everett Fine Art Ltd will launch what they believe is the first emergency service for art and antiques this month.

With only seven others known to exist, this pair of 1750s Worcester gugglets was destined for success when offered on July 22 at Bristol Auction Rooms. Acquired fairly recently by a local private source, the 9in (24cm) high pair were originally estimated at just £400-600.

Planning to shortly reopen their Marlborough saleroom, Hamptons have appointed John Haycraft, formerly of Phillips and Dreweatt Neate, as senior valuer and auctioneer.

DRAWING on long-ago mercantile wealth (don’t mention the slave trade or even, these days, tobacco imports) Bristol has for years rewarded visits by dealers looking for fresh material. But of late the city has been raising its profile as a premier league centre for antiques.

Netherhampton House, a wonderful Queen Anne home in Salisbury, was the venue for Duke’s English Country House sale on 16 June. Rented from the Pembroke estate since 1990 by dealer and collector John Parnaby, the elegant stone property operated as both a home and a showroom for Mr Parnaby’s business, Victor Mahy Antiques, specialists in 17th and 18th century furniture and works of art.

Highlight of the remainder of the Roy Mickleburgh collection sold by Bristol Auction Rooms on June 24 was this rare monkey band automaton, c.1870. The nine-piece chamber orchestra includes no fewer than 43 separate movements operated by a French mechanism and is housed in a rosewood veneered two-part case with a 48-note German-made crankwind barrel organ below playing a choice of seven tunes.