West Sussex

Sporting and maritime art dealer Rountree Tryon has acquired a second gallery space in Petworth.

A sofa in the form of Mae West’s lips and a lobster telephone are among the surrealist lots from West Dean House to go to auction in December.

Dealer John Bird was long established in Petworth when the tenure of his old shop came to an end, but this did not spell and end for the West Sussex furniture specialist.

This rare dodo skeleton – the first almost complete specimen in nearly a century – carries an estimate of £500,000 at Summers Place Auctions’ November 22 sale.

A painting by Edward Burne-Jones was among the items taken in two burglaries at the same property in Linchmere, near Haslemere last month.

It was definitely a case of the ‘best of British’ this weekend as Aston Martin, Jaguar and Bentley went head-to-head at Bonhams classic car auction.

A large drawing by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) which has never been exhibited before has gone on display at Pallant House Gallery after being acquired by the Chichester gallery via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.

Among the lots drawing competition at the latest picture sale held by Mallams of Oxford was a hilltop view of the Sussex landscape by Hannah Gluckstein (1895-1978).

Police investigating a break-in at Goodwood House, the Chichester home of Lord and Lady March, are appealing for information and to trace irreplaceable stolen jewellery.

Three men have been sentenced to jail for their parts in a spree of antiques thefts perpetrated in January 2014 across the south of England.

West Sussex auctioneers Bellmans enjoyed considerable success on August 5, with a single-owner collection of around 30 Indian and Tibetan bronzes collected by a private vendor in the 1960s.

An oil on panel by Franz Sedlacek (1891-1945), an Austrian artist prominent in the Vienna Secession group of painters, drew international bidding at Toovey’s of Washington, West Sussex.

An oil on panel by Franz Sedlacek (1891-1945), one of Austria’s most prominent artists during the 1920s and ‘30s, will be offered in West Sussex auctioneers Toovey’s sale.

A 20-piece Nantgarw dessert service has sold for £20,000 at Campbells of Worthing. It was consigned on behalf of a titled lady.

This Tiffany Studios c.1905 table lamp proved the highlight of Denhams’ recent fine art sale in Horsham, Sussex. It was an unusual visitor to the UK regional saleroom.

Appearing at a recent sale held by Toovey’s of Washington, West Sussex, this Imperial Qianlong famille rose and calligraphic vase sold for a house-record £520,000.

The name Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) was mentioned as the possible hand responsible for this unsigned 18th century French charcoal and chalk drawing that leapt from lowly expectations to sell for £320,000 (plus 22.5% buyer’s premium) at Toovey’s of Washington, West Sussex on October 8.

Chichester firm Stride & Sons included two fine Georgian miniatures in their latest sale.

Maori boat-shaped feather boxes – or ‘waka huia’ – are infrequent visitors to UK salerooms so it was unusual to see two examples sold in close proximity this summer.

The school curriculum needs to focus more on arts and crafts if the creative industries are to have a future in the UK. So says the director of education at West Dean in West Sussex.