Papers chronicling Thatcher’s rise to power found in dusty garage
November 12th 2025
Late Tory grandee’s ‘historic’ record of trailblazing PM could exceed auction estimate of £100,000
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South Poorton: Historical coins found under floor sell for £60,000
April 30th 2024
A hoard of historical coins that was unearthed during renovation work on a cottage has sold at auction for double the top estimated value.
The cache of more than 1,000 gold and silver coins, dating back to the 16th and 17th Centuries, was found buried under a floor at South Poorton, Dorset.
The collection fetched £60,000 at Duke's Auctions in Dorchester.
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Sword from battle where Lord Nelson ‘turned a blind eye’ to go on sale
December 1st 2023
The weapon, with an estimate of £60,000-£80,000, was made for James Proctor after he helped Britain win the the first Battle of Copenhagen
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A Golden 15th-Century Altar Panel Is Returning to a Museum 44 Years After It Was Stolen, Thanks to a Keen-Eyed Auction Researcher
June 6th 2023
The double-sided altar panel was slated to be sold at Duke’s Auctions.
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Small fortune
April 14th 2023
A 2ft-tall bronze maquette of Sir Winston Churchill, much loved by him and his wife, has sold for £260,000. It was made by his friend, Oscar Nemon.
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Nine interior designers on the best auction houses for antique finds
February 13th 2023
Auction houses are one of the best resources for unearthing interesting and rare antique furniture, but would you know where to go? We’ve asked nine interior designers to share their favourites
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Mad hatter!
February 12th 2023
Collection of Victorian and Edwardian headwear expected to sell for a staggering £30,000 at auction.
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Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset will host an auction of around 25 Land Rovers on Thursday
October 5th 2022
The sale includes various Series Land Rover parts and trailers – including a Camel Trophy RIB – and might be the first-ever Land Rover-only auction in the UK.
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Play the name game for value
July 18th 2022
The watch market can be obsessed with brand names – and the best names do come with a price tag to match.
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Keith Vaughan works on the crest of a wave
July 11th 2022
Among the 20th century works on paper generating demand at regional sales in the last few months was a Keith Vaughan (1912-77) study of a group of bathers.
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Victorian pair took a passage from India
July 4th 2022
A Victorian sapphire, diamond and pearl brooch-pendant was one of two pieces with Indian roots offered for sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium)
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'Remarkable' Dorset book collection sold at auction
June 17th 2022
A "remarkable" collection of English literature has sold at auction for £346,000.
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WWII submarine's Jolly Roger flag sells for £13,000 at auction
May 14th 2022
The flag, which has been stored in a loft in Weymouth, Dorset, for more than 40 years, was made by Petty Officer Sharp aboard HMS Unbroken.
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From a client of Bluett’s
May 7th 2022
It will now contain a group of impeccably provenanced material from the RER Luff Will Trust.
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Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze tops seasonal Asian art sales in UK regions
January 17th 2022
The highest single price posted in the regions during the autumn series of Asian art sales was the £380,000 bid at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dorchester for a monumental Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze devotional figure of Tara broadly dated to the Qing period.
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Five top paintings sold at auction outside London in 2021
December 28th 2021
Despite the lockdowns, the last 12 months has been a busy time for the art market with plenty of activity witnessed around the country. Here we pick out five of the top picture results at auctions outside London in 2021.
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Record for the elusive Cayley Robinson is smashed as train journey work takes £95,000
November 8th 2021
In 2010 The National Gallery held the first exhibition of works by Frederick Cayley Robinson (1862-1927) in the UK for 30 years.
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Rare first edition of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit featuring handwritten spelling correction sells for £60,000
October 8th 2021
This rare first impression edition of J.R.R Tolkien's classic children's book The Hobbit which features a handwritten correction has sold for a whopping £59,800 at an auction in Dorset
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Dedicated Dorset auction debut
October 4th 2021
Celebrating the county’s history, literature and its arts and crafts, an inaugural Dorset Auction was held in Dorchester by Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium).
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Medieval Irish chalice sells for almost €58,000 at UK auction
July 2nd 2021
An exceptionally rare 15th century silver chalice which originated in Ireland has been sold at auction in the UK for close to €58,000.
The silver gilt chalice dating back to circa 1480 was sold at auction today by Dukes of Dorchester.
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Going, Going, Gone: Wormington Grange's contents are being sold at auction until Friday
May 13th 2021
The beautiful stately home was owned by John Evetts, the Landmark Trust's Furnishing Manager, whose taste is of course second to none
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The reason why this Cotswolds stately-home furniture sale is getting high society excited
May 12th 2021
The sale has been described as ‘the most important collection of English country-house furniture to come to auction in in recent decades’
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Millionaire financier's treasure trove of artefacts including rare Tudor oak bed and Queen Anne mirror kept in Dorset stately home sell for more than £750,000 at auction
April 17th 2021
The prized valuables of one of Britain's most beautiful stately homes that went unseen for generations have sold for more than £750,000 at auction.
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Winston Churchill's cigar box sells for £79,000 at auction
March 11th 2021
The box was found on a shelf during a routine valuation by auctioneers at a house in Devon
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Millionaire has to sell his Bentley collection to pay for his divorce
March 5th 2021
A multi-millionaire is reluctantly selling his collection of ‘some of the finest Bentley cars in existence’ because of his divorce.
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Leather jug made from the hide of Oliver Cromwell's war horse is expected to fetch £6,000 as it emerges for sale 368 years later
February 27th 2021
The family has now decided to sell it at auction with Dukes Auctioneers of Dorchester, Dorset, and it has been given a pre-sale estimate of £6,000.
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Now that's downsizing! Owners put 17th century manor house's £30,000 contents up for sale including Regency piano and George II corner chair as they move to smaller home
September 17th 2020
Retired IT consultant Ken Ollerton, 72, and his wife Jane have now consigned 107 lots with auctioneers Duke's, of nearby Dorchester, Dorset, with the sale expected to raise £30,000.
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Cracked teapot found in Dorset sells for £1m after auctioneer makes accidental discovery
November 12th 2019
A China teapot that was found on a shelf of a semi-detached house has sold for a staggering £1m - despite having a damaged lid.
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10 top lots on offer at Duke’s auction of contents from Athelhampton House
October 3rd 2019
“Good old-fashioned country house auctions are a rarity these days and it is a privilege to organise one against such an historic backdrop.” So says Guy Schwinge of Dorchester auction house Duke’s, referring to the upcoming sale of the contents from Athelhampton House in Dorset.
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Rare Aston Martin fetches £754,000 at Dorchester auction
June 9th 2017
The convertible DB6 Vantage Volante was previously owned by the wife of media entrepreneur Sidney Bernstein.
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Chinese scroll painting gives Duke’s of Dorchester top regional auction price for Asian art
May 27th 2017
The top regional Asian art price at auction this season was reached by Duke’s of Dorchester on May 18 when Wu Guanzhong’s (1919-2010) scroll painting White Birches on Mount Chang Bai (Zhangbai) sold at £500,000 (plus buyer's premium).
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English Civil War pound sells for £56k at auction
March 13th 2015
The ‘Declaration Pound’ went under the hammer at Duke’s of Dorchester in a collectors’ sale recently.
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Chinese Ming tomb horse at Duke's auction in Dorchester
July 22nd 2011
A rare 7ft (2.1m) stone horse from the Chinese Ming dynasty is expected to fetch up to £100,000 when it is sold at auction in Dorset.
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