South-west England

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’.

It turns out that a pair of three-foot pricket candlesticks, an advertising sign and a heavy convex mirror are not the easiest things to transport with only two hands on the London Underground at rush hour. In fact, the kindness of strangers becomes crucial.

Estimated at just £200-300, a set of four early 20th century Chinese famille rose porcelain plaques depicting the four seasons in mountainous settings were bought by a phone bidder from Shanghai for £420,000 at Charterhouse of Sherborne in Dorset.

The first stand-alone tribal art sale held by Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury was topped at £44,000 by this 19th or early 20th century Yombe seated figure from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

ATG’s 10 Questions with Sarah Seccombe of Blighty Antiques and Interiors, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

More than 1000 lots are on offer at Chorley’s two-day sale on February 20-21 at Prinknash Abbey Park, Gloucestershire.

The prize consignment of paintings, sketches, ceramics and ephemera produced by key members of the Rhead family of potters, offered by Bearnes, Hampton & Littlewood in Exeter on January 22-23, comprised 117 lots in all.

It was the most important consignment of work by the Rhead family to come onto the market in years. But would the respect in which the remarkable dynasty of potters are held translate into remarkable prices?

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.

The second tranche of ceramics, paintings, sketches and ephemera produced by various members of the Rhead family of potters was sold at the latest fine art sale held by Bearnes, Hampton & Littlewood in Exeter.

Duke’s of Dorchester will offer this 9in (23cm) shell made by Lino Tagliapietra (b.1934), a master glass blower in Murano, at auction next month.

This novelty flask in the form of a shoe features in Barbara Kirk’s forthcoming Antiques & Collectors Items Auction in Penzance.

Optimism permeated the UK’s regional auction market across much of the last year.

Dorchester auctioneers Duke’s have unveiled plans for a new saleroom in the heart of the county town.

A Victorian diamond rivière necklace sold to an anonymous bidder for £190,000 at Duke’s of Dorchester earlier this month.

Picked from a trench in 1916, a poppy which is thought to be the only surviving example from the First World War sold for £5200 at Duke’s of Dorchester earlier this month.

When Gloucestershire auctioneers Chorley’s were asked to sell this early Victorian dolls’ house, the consignment came with a caveat.

A sale at Chippenham Auction Rooms had to be cancelled after thieves broke in overnight by removing tiles from the roof.

The violin played by Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley as the ship slid beneath the waves on the morning of April 15, 1912, was always going to a) attract massive worldwide interest and b) bring in the big bucks at auction.

The August 1908 issue of Votes for Women, house magazine of the Women’s Social and Political Union describes ‘the latest novelty in the Union colours – a special belt and buckle, which is being sold at half-a-crown each’.