Yorkshire and the Humber

Helen Sutcliffe runs the premises of Sutcliffe Galleries in Harrogate. The family-run business has been trading for more than six decades and specialises in paintings from the 18th century to the present day.

The protocols around selling antique firearms and ordnance are increasingly strict. We talk to auctioneer Angus Ashworth about the perils that even an ex-army man can face.

If, as generally accepted, the tri-annual fine art sales at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) can be regarded as something of a barometer of the middle market, the outlook following the autumn sale on November 18 appears rather more steady than the Brexit nervousness talked about elsewhere in the economy.

In a category of its own – and bringing one of the highest prices at the Tennants autumn sale – was a brass, tooth-edge dog collar engraved Rt. Honble Lord Byron.

Topping a recent sale at Boulton & Cooper in Malton, near York was this unusual Georgian miniature elbow chair with shell-carved knees and cresting rail.

Selling the contents of historic estates, especially those in the same family for several generations, will often throw up surprises.

British and Irish watercolours piqued the interest of bidders at Tennants’ (18.5% buyer’s premium) Country House sale in Leyburn on October 14.

Next up from Cooper Events is the Pavilions of Harrogate Decorative Antiques & Fine Art Fair, from November 17-19 at the Great Yorkshire Showground. The final edition of Cooper’s three annual Harrogate fairs, it hosts a total of 43 dealers.

The earliest firebacks date from the 15th century, the early days of iron casting. These were placed against the back wall of a fireplace, an important feature when that wall was made of wattle and daub or soft stone.

Back at No 1, 60 years after driving teenagers wild and their parents to despair, Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock was the star of Pop and Rock Memorabilia sale at Ryedale Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, on September 29.

Gary Sutcliffe of Sutcliffe Galleries, Harrogate, is exhibiting at the Northern Antiques Fair (October 19-22).

One of the most sought-after models in the jukebox world is the Wurlitzer Peacock Type 850, designed by Paul Fueller in 1941. It is generally considered the biggest, the showiest and ‘most jukeboxy’ jukebox of them all.

A letter billed as one of the most important items of ephemera from the Titanic to be offered at auction will go under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son on October 21 in Devizes, Wiltshire.

Early to spot the rise of interest in taxidermy, Tennants’ (18.5% buyer’s premium) latest Natural History sale on September 20 was led by a top-quality diorama with a back story adding to its appeal.