1. The leading picture price outside London was posted by Adams of Dublin on November 22 when the Jack B Yeats oil By Merrion Strand sold at €490,000. The painting, shown at The Alpine Club Gallery, London in February 1929, was included in the first solo exhibition of Yeats’ work at the Contemporary Picture Galleries in Dublin in 1940.
2. This 10¼in (26cm) high Jaiqing (1796-1820) famille rose altar vase or benbaping belongs to a group of ritual wares commissioned by the Qing court for ceremonial use in palaces and temples. It came for sale at Lawrences of Crewkerne on January 19, where it sold to a prominent Hong Kong dealership at £252,000.
3. The top price in the UK regions this year, and the first seven-figure bid in a regional saleroom since 2012, was for this exceptional diamond ring by Graff sold at Fellows on December 7 for £1.1m. The primary stone is a 43.59ct radiant-cut fancy intense yellow diamond and it comes with a GIA report dated July 14, 2014, stating that the colour is natural and the clarity rated VS2.
4. Among the top prices for furniture in the regions in 2017, this early 16th century oak aumbry or dole cupboard sold for £65,000 at Sworders on June 27. A rare survivor from the reign of Henry VIII, it has been published on several occasions since the 1920s.
