South-west England

An inscription reading “For Mrs Oliver, from Beatrix Potter – with kind regards & best wishes for Christmas 1901” was a welcome bonus on a copy of the first, privately printed edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Woolley & Wallis is currently selling across a number of sales a cache of items from the family of HG Murphy (1884-1939), whose Falcon Studio produced some of the finest English silver of the inter-war era.

This Tudor period gold finger ring with the initials RB was found by a detectorist on land to the west of Crewkerne in 2017.

In our continuing series looking through the keyhole of ‘bricks and mortar’ shops and centres, ATG talks to Richard Payne- Withers, who runs Bridport Antiques with his wife Samantha.

From her Dorset cottage, artist and print-maker Rena Gardiner (1929-99) produced more than 40 guidebooks to historic places, buildings and the countryside, all of which she wrote, illustrated with drawings made directly onto litho plates and printed herself.

Nearly 500 lots of Modern British and 20th century art went under the hammer at Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury to notch up a total of £535,000 with three-quarters sold.

Stroud Auction Rooms has moved into a grade-II listed property in the Gloucestershire market town while securing a second site for future expansion.

In the books, maps and prints supplement in ATG No 2341, Pom Harrington of Harrington Rare Books observed that millennials are now looking at books and thinking they are “cool”.

As regimental silver, the Victorian centrepiece shown below qualified to be part of the Militaria, Coins & Medals sale at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne and, as a memento of the gallant 9th (The Queen’s Royal) Lancers, it swept the field.

Country house car boots held in aid of charities are part of the summer season.

Results for Kakiemon and Meiji metalwork underline stronger market for Asia’s ‘second tier’

Written in red ink on four sheets, the original draft script of Ronnie Barker’s famous ‘Fork Handles’ TV sketch of 1976 has been sold for £28,000.

Barbara Hepworth’s 'The Aegean Suite' (1971), a series of lithographs based on her impressions of Greece, is currently on offer at Belgrave St Ives.

A trio of unsigned First World War prints by CRW Nevinson (1889-1946) sold for multi-estimate sums in a two-day sale at Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) in Cirencester.

One of the many beauties of the Grade I-listed Crowcombe Court in the Quantock Hills of west Somerset is the Great Hall.

Among several runaway lots at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) Asian Art sale in Dorchester was a 19th century Indian watercolour depicting the Mughal Emperor Akbar II on an elephant.