East of England

UK: THE current strength of the silver market for unusual pieces has been discussed in theAntiques Trade Gazette of recent weeks and the Cambridge auctioneers two-day sale showed that the trend is no different in East Anglia.

UK: A 1632 MANUSCRIPT plan by Johan Williams of the Maniera de Monk Lytons, alias Kentwell... in the Suffolk parish of Melford, executed in ink and watercolours and including details of Kentwell Hall and Melford church, sold for £2000, in this East Anglian sale, and other local lots included a three-year run of the Norwich Mercury (1801-04) at £500 and A.H. Patterson’s Broadland Scribblings of 1892, at £480.

UK: Wellington chests remain a steady favourite in the middle-price range of furniture, particularly when they come as a pair as at this Bedford sale.

UK: A TYPICAL mammoth offering of 1463 lots at the Norfolk rooms’ collectors’ sale included something for just about anyone buying on a modest budget – and, as usual, a few unexpected bidding battles.

UK: THE double January offering of two-day 1300-lot auctions at the Norfolk auctioneers followed the usual house pattern of a high volume of low-value entries interspersed with one or two gems, and saw consistent bidding throughout both auctions.

UK: CONSIGNED by a private vendor who had played it regularly, this late 18th century harpsichord, right, by the prolific makers, Jacobus & Abraham Kirkham was the centre of attention at the Loughton, Essex rooms of Ambrose Auctioneers (15 per cent buyer's premium) on January 26.

UK: CONSIGNED by a private vendor who had played it regularly, this late 18th century harpsichord, right, by the prolific makers, Jacobus & Abraham Kirkham was the centre of attention at the Loughton, Essex rooms of Ambrose Auctioneers (15 per cent buyer's premium) on January 26.

UK: MODESTLY billed as a sale of Victorian and Later Furniture and Household Effects, this smallish event in a Suffolk town probably best known for its many antiques shops n fact combined two of the strengths of provincial auctioneers – some decent fresh-to-market period furniture to attract wide trade interest and some material guaranteed to spark bids from local enthusiasts.

UK: THE Norfolk auctioneers end their year with a typical 1400-lot, something-for-everyone sale aimed at the budget-conscious end of the market.

UK: SPECIALIST auctioneers Tool Shop Auctions (10 per cent buyer’s premium) finished the year with an 1100-lot dispersal on December 4 at Needham Market Suffolk, where a UK bidder beat an American rival to the top seller, this extremely rare boxwood Ultimatum brace, right, by William Marples.

UK: THE market in Guinness collectables continues to be as thirsty as that for the black stuff itself, to the point where buyers have to be on guard against forgeries of better known pieces.

UK: NEWMARKET auctioneers Vost’s say they expect to cease trading within the month after managing director John Vost quit in what he described as a “major boardroom disagreement”.

UK: AN extensive Antiques Trade Gazette investigation has uncovered a string of complaints from dealers about a freight company, Gold Vale Associates operating as Radford International Movers, of Billericay in Essex.

UK: THE romance, expertise and astonishing prices at the Benacre sale came together when this pair of candelabra, above, were put up by Sotheby’s.

UK: THIS rare and unusual George II carved giltwood console table in the manner of William Kent modelled with an owl and probably carved by John Bonson of Savile Row sold for £520,000 (plus premium) – some ten times its estimate.

UK: “ONE of only two known examples of Marconi’s first commercial wireless set in complete condition”, was how this inconsequentially appearing box was described by the English trade underbidder at G.A. Key’s sale in Aylsham, Norfolk on May 4.

UK: ESSEX-based auctioneers G.E. Sworders & Sons have revived ties with Hertfordshire by taking over Andrew Pickford in Hertford.

UK: The factors which make for a desirable cased fish are four-fold: the case (bowfronts are most popular), the label of a good taxidermist such as Cooper, condition and (as the joker in the pack) the beast itself.

UK: A HIGHLY important painting by the early Italian master Cimabue (c.1240-1302) has been discovered by Sotheby's at Benacre Hall, near Lowestoft, Suffolk, home of the reclusive Sir John Gooch, 12th Bt., who died last year.

ARCHITECTURAL specialists Thomas William Gaze & Son (7.5 per cent buyer’s premium) included these 19th century decorative wallbricks, right, at their sale in Diss, Norfolk April 17.