West Midlands

This copy of 'Hansel and Gretel', 1925, with 12 tipped-in colour plates by the Danish artist Kay Nielsen (1886-1957), is one of 600 numbered copies (numbered 16) signed by the artist, in the original publisher’s pictorial cloth.

Proof that a traditional piece of furniture can still bring a traditional price, this mid-18th century oak tridarn went seven times above estimate at the Trevanion (20% buyer’s premium) auction in Shropshire.

The Silver, Coins & Medals auction at Fellows in Birmingham on September 13 will include this garniture of three George V silver pedestal bowls with lion and serpent embellishments. estimated at £1500-2500.

Organised by Tricorn Fairs, the biannual Bristol Fine Antique Arms Fair returns on Sunday, September 11, at a new venue: the Aztec West Hotel and Spa.

Two sporting ‘firsts’ are being marked by lots coming up in separate auctions this month.

Aboriginal shields come in two basic types: broad shields used for deflecting projectiles and the narrow, compact parrying shields used in close contact fighting.

Percy Thomas Tibbles, born in Hampstead, London, in 1881, was destined to become famous for cutting women in half.

Priced on the cover at nine pence, it was a British copy of a Marvel comic of 1983, one that saw the first appearance of the mighty Thor, that led the bidding at £6300 in the comics section of a July 21-22 sale held by Fieldings (24% buyer’s premium).

This cased pair of English flintlock duelling pistols by Joseph Gulley, London, c.1810-15, sold for £8600 at Halls (20/12% buyer’s premium) in a timed online sale that ended on August 2.

A brand-new building on the Dodwell Trading Estate outside Stratford-upon- Avon is the home of the recently opened Top Dog Antiques.

Overseas interest in tribal art and Doulton Lambeth wares fuelled the higher prices at Cuttlestones’ (20% buyer’s premium) Penkridge sale but it was a new outbreak of cardomania which raised temperatures of collectors across England.

“Dealers are coming from far and wide including Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire and of course Worcestershire and the West Midlands in general,” says Paul Rowson, who in May launched his new antiques and collectors’ fair in the atmospheric setting of Hartlebury Castle in Worcester, known as the Bishops’ Palace.

“Analogous to the Tunbridge ware but of a superior character” was Robert Russell’s description of his work at the 1851 Great Exhibition.

This sealed and dated onion in olive green glass, below, comes with a handwritten scrap of paper inscribed 'George found [this bottle] when he dived into the Thames at Windsor'. The seal reads 'S Slater 1710'.

A new record for a Royal Doulton figure has been set in Stoke-on-Trent.

This Art Deco turquoise, rock crystal and black enamelled silver necklace carries the maker’s mark of the celebrated French atelier René Boivin.

The jewellery team at Richard Winterton Auctioneers has expanded.

The Fine Jewellery auction at Fellows on August 4 includes a gold George III mourning ring.

Showing the growing sensitivity towards estimates in the Modern British market, a portrait by Sir Matthew Smith (1879-1959) that had been unsold at Halls last year did rather better when it was reoffered last month with a reduced pitch.

Bright sunflowers and urban scene demonstrate different sides of the Mod Brit artist