Pick of the Week

This 176oz Victorian presentation silver centrepiece offered for sale at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury on April 25 has a strong Dutch connection.

A rare ebonised framed armchair after the original design by Edward William Godwin (1833-86) sold for £44,000 (plus 18% premium) at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester on April 21.

A grand piano commissioned by George IV in 1821 is to return to Brighton Pavilion after it sold for £62,000 at Piano Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) in London on April 6.

First editions of Jane Austen’s most popular book, Pride and Prejudice of 1813, in contemporary bindings don’t come along often. But one such prize – a copy with a rather distant but nonetheless attractive family link – appeared at Mellors & Kirk (20% buyer’s premium) in Nottingham on March 22-23.

Inspired by an exhibition marking the 400th anniversary of Raphael’s birth in 1883, Alexander III (1845-94) commissioned a porcelain dinner service for use in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoe Selo, writes Roland Arkell.

The highest price for a picture sold in the regions this year came when a large painting by Edmund Blair Leighton (1853-1922) drew dramatic bidding at House & Son (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Bournemouth on March 21.

A coin sold in the Dix Noonan Webb (20% buyer’s premium) auction on March 15 is a poignant reminder of the mysterious death of the Princes in the Tower.

Estimated at £1500-2000, this rare English delft dish sold for £20,000 (plus 22.5% buyer’s premium) at Cheffins in Cambridge on March 8.