Shropshire

Individually, watches which the War Office commissioned from 12 Swiss makers during the Second World War are not as highly rated as other military watches – but as a set they are a holy grail for British collectors.

Guided at £200-400, a pair of 17th century British school portraits (one pictured below) went on to fetch £1150 each at Halls (20% buyer’s premium) of Shrewsbury.

Harking back to when the Netherlands was a powerful player in the tea trade, a rare, early 18th century silver caddy attracted international interest at Halls (20% buyer’s premium) of Shrewsbury.

Porcelain by Jacob Petit (1797-1868) is a scarce sight at provincial rooms.

Widely exported during the Meiji period to a Western market newly awake to the skills of Japanese craftsmen, okimono now often appear at provincial salerooms.

Skilfully designed to catch salmon, fishing flies and lures hooked enthusiasts at Shropshire sporting specialist Mullock’s (20% buyer’s premium) fishing sale which included the work of two great names in the angling lexicon.

Made in Switzerland for the Turkish market, in the late 19th century this zarf (coffee cup), below, had endured some rough treatment over the years before appearing at the Shropshire rooms of Trevanion & Dean (19% buyer’s premium).

Children’s author Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) and Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) don’t seem to have much in common. At separate auctions held later this month, however, both will have correspondence appearing on the market for the first time.

New year brings a new sales calendar at Halls of Shrewsbury, not least launching a dedicated Asian art auction.

Founded three years ago, the Whitchurch, Shropshire, firm of Trevanion & Dean (19% buyer’s premium) enjoyed its best sale so far when the 950 lots, ranging from Renaissance art to contemporary glass, totalled £250,000 on November 18.

This archetypal still-life by Cecil Kennedy (1905-97) topped Halls’ (20% buyer’s premium) £300,000 auction on October 18.

Singer-songwriter Rebecca Newman will be scaling up Emma and Oli Jones’ antiques, art and vintage fair this autumn.

Golf tournament programmes in Mullock’s (19% buyer’s premium) sale of golf and other sporting memorabilia of October 18-19 included the one shown here, issued for the 1933 Ryder Cup, played on the Southport and Ainsdale courses in 1937.

In our continuing series looking through the keyhole of ‘bricks and mortar’ shops in 2017, ATG talks to Nigel Bate who opened Bridgnorth Antique Centre earlier this year.

Richard Allen is a name few in the portrait miniatures market would fail to know.

A large Qing blue and white bottle vase with a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark sold for £150,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Halls in Shrewsbury.

This shagreen, silver and enamel cigarette box and cover, made for Liberty and Co and attributed to Manx designer Archibald Knox (1854-1933), doubled its estimate to sell for £10,500 at Halls (20% buyer’s premium) in Shrewsbury on June 21.