Cambridge

A portrait by Augustus John (1878-1961) of his daughter Gwyneth Johnstone attracted keen attention at auction in Cambridge last week.

Tender letters from artist Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones to the daughter of his patron reveal the “emotional support” he craved.

A portrait by Henry Lamb (1883-1960) making its first appearance at auction fetched a sale-topping £18,000 at Cambridge auction house Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) on May 9.

The recent art and design sale at Cheffins in Cambridge included these two 1930s Moorcroft tubelined vases decorated with fish – a pattern from the later years of the William Moorcroft era.

Once enthusiastic buyers on the art market, today’s cash-strapped councils have taken on the role of vendor, pushed in an age of austerity to sell their collections and other assets to balance the books.

Two versions of Edward Bawden’s (1903-89) famous 'Brighton Pier' linocut came up at UK auctions within a day of each other.

Prices high despite lack of good-quality stock as buyers aim for top standards.

A surrealist work by John Tunnard (1900-71) led a sale of 20th century British pictures from Hertfordshire County Council’s collection at Cheffins on March 21.

The ice pick carried by geologist Frank Debenham (1883-1965) during the doomed Terra Nova British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13 sold for £22,000 (plus buyer’s premium) at Cheffins earlier this month. The estimate was just £200-400.

A 16 x 15in (42 x 38cm) linocut by Great Bardfield artist Sheila Robinson (1925-88) more than doubled its estimate to sell for £1000 at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) of Cambridge.

An impressive collection of 20th century British pictures will be offered at Cheffins in Cambridge on March 21 after Hertfordshire County Council took the decision to offload them.

Dated London 1679 in a Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) sale of January 10 was a job lot that included four unframed Hogarth prints, a framed royal proclamation of 1800 relating to the production of grain and a “1679 broadside, printed for T.N. that is headed A List of the Parliament of Women”.

A letter of 1803 in which George III, writing to Lord Hawkesbury, effectively declares his intention to renew war on France, was at £9000 one of the more successful lots in a recent Cambridge sale that produced its fair share of surprise results.

The festive season is upon us. And as art market tradition dictates, this means a generous helping of Old Masters.

Catalogued as a ‘travelling ensemble’ these two oak fitted cases of silver tableware, below, conjure up images of lavish inter-war era picnics.