North-east England

First published in 1755, Samuel Johnson’s 'A Dictionary of the English Language' had taken eight years to compile with six helpers.

When Ziegler and Company of Manchester established a carpet factory in Sultanabad in 1883, it did so with a clear idea of its customer base.

Models produced for promotional purposes usually benefit from considerable rarity value and so it proved when a Dinky toy came up for auction at Stockton-on-Tees saleroom Vectis.

Les Portes Fermées ou Les Doubles Surprises, a rare and tiny French work of c.1820, sold for £1600 at a Newcastle auction.

Vectis Auctions is expanding into new categories and has added three new departments.

The collection of the original Troika moulds, referenced in ATG No 2564, failed to find a buyer in our monthly auction in October.

Forget names such as Palitoy, Britains, Dinky, Sindy, Bing and Marklin for a moment – recent auctions have shown the demand that can exist for lesser-known manufacturers and brands in the toys world.

Shelley first introduced the geometric Vogue and Mode shapes in 1930 – both the designs of Eric Slater who had worked at the factory since the end of the First World War.

This Japanese ‘Super Car’ tinplate vehicle is an unlicensed model, probably based on the Supercar vehicle from Gerry Anderson’s 1960s UK television series.

A Tyne and Wear auction house has relocated and rebranded.

Ceramics by Hans Coper (1920-81) and Lucie Rie (1902-95) have been assimilated into the collecting sphere of Modern British art with spectacular effect.

The original moulds from the Troika Pottery, kept in storage since the 1980s, come to auction at the end of this month.

Newcastle auction house Anderson & Garland is holding The Comics Auction on September 28-29.

One of the highest prices for a work by Sheila Fell (1931-79) came at Newcastle saleroom Anderson & Garland’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Country House & Fine Interiors auction.

Among the most desirable examples of Victorian majolica is the series of whimsical teapots produced by factories in the second half of the 19th century.

This display of copper and pottery pieces is from one of Colin Caygill Events’ busy monthly midweek antiques and vintage fairs run in Northumberland in the market town of Hexham.

Named after the Cygnus swan constellation on the Milky Way with a nod to the White Swan Inn nearby, a shop in Berwick-on-Tweed is certainly looking starry since it opened in mid-June.

To mark the new range of Star Wars toys that came with the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983, the Leicester firm Palitoy commissioned a series of hand-built and hand-painted store displays to send to some of its best retailers.

Top price among a selection of car mascots offered in Newcastle came for a design in honour of the French aviator George Guynemer.

Cyril Arthur Farey (1888-1954) was one of the most renowned British architectural draughtsmen of the 20th century.