Newbury

This half-tester bed with its carved heraldic lions and painted and gilt panels is part of an extensive bedroom suite made c.1870 by Collier & Plucknett.

Classic Hammer Horror film posters are always popular at auction. This example below was probably the first UK quad release of The Hound of The Baskervilles (1959) starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

James Perkins, the co-founder of rave music promoter Fantazia, kept an eclectic collection of Contemporary art at Aynhoe Park in Oxfordshire.

The name Boutet appears on many fine presentation guns.

This charming early English-style station below was produced for the export market by German toy manufacturer Märklin.

The unexpected highlight of Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) sale on November 12 was provided by this copper red glazed globular form bowl.

Strong bidding emerged at Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest Modern & Contemporary Art auction as a work by Irish artist John Shinnors (b.1950) caught the eye of no fewer than eight trade and private buyers.

At Morphy Auction (20% buyer’s premium) in Denver, Pennsylvania, on August 19 it was an exceptional example of an icon of the pioneering life that had everyone expecting some strong bidding.

This Star Wars Kenner Blue Snaggletooth action figure, undented toe version, complete with original weapon, is estimated at £80-120 in the Special Auction Services October 27 Toys for the Collector sale.

Joan Dunk (1930-2019) was a Portobello Road market stalwart. Her stall, for decades an outside pitch on the corner of Westbourne Grove, was affectionately known as IDA – the trade name of an early 20th century German kitchen equipment manufacturer which she adapted to mean ‘Interesting Domestic Appliances’.

This George III mourning ring is engraved 'W’m Tipping, aged 17, died 23 Aug, 1792'. He drowned while bathing in the sea at Blackpool.

One of the highlights of a busy week in the salerooms came at Dreweatts’ auction of the Sir William Whitfield (1920-2019) collection.

“A fabulous example of how an auctioneer can sell these collections so successfully outside of London,” said Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) managing director Jonathan Pratt in the wake of Donnington Priory’s latest auction of European furniture and works of art.

A key feature of the ceramics section of Dreweatts’ sale on February 19 will be 55 lots from a local private collection featuring 18th century English porcelain.

Tucked inside an18th century treen model of a ship’s hull is a historic note reading This was taken out of a writing bureau belonging to Lord Collingwood. I saw the bureau and know its history.

Bidders respond positively to auction combination of quality, freshness and pricing.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.

The practice of placing a metal mark on a building to indicate insurance against a fire started in earnest after the Great Fire of London (1666). Each insurance company had its own fire service and distinctive logo.