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New rooms A Suffolk auction house this month launches a series of sales aimed at combining traditional antiques and interiors.

Bishop & Miller in Stowmarket is calling the new thrice-yearly sale ‘remarkable rooms’, with the first on March 31.

Managing director, Oliver Miller, said: “It is a combination of the traditional market meets the modern-day interior taking you on a remarkable roomby-room journey.” The second sale is on November 3.

Above A William IV specimen centre table, inlaid with ebony, oak, ash, birch and fruitwood has an estimate of £800-£1,200 at this month’s sale

Threads bear The Royal School of Needlework, founded in 1872, celebrates its 150th birthday this year with a series of textile exhibitions. The London school was founded to preserve the art of hand embroidery and support women’s independence through work. Next month’s exhibition, 150 Years of the Royal School of Needlework, draws on its archive of 5,000 textiles to explore. It runs from April 1 to September 4, with a show devoted to the American designer Kaffe Fassett (b. 1937) planned for later in the year.

Above Goldwork sampler for the coronation robe of state, 1953, Royal School of Needlework/ John Chase

Naked truths Women artists of the Belle Époque is the topic of one of a series of talks this month ahead of London Art Week later in the year.

Art History in Focus, from March 8-18, is a programme of online talks which was developed in lockdown to bring together academics and dealers. The talks are a precursor to London Art Week (LAW) set to take place from July 3-8. LAW showcases paintings, drawings, sculptures and objects from a number of galleries and dealers thoughout the capital, from Richmond to Holland Park, with many in St James’s and Mayfair. For details go to www.londonartweek.co.uk

LOVELY TOVEY The actor and art collector Russell Tovey has replaced the historian Mary Beard as patron of the educational charity Art UK.

Co-host of the podcast Talk Art, Billericay-born Tovey started collecting contemporary art aged 21 after his parents bought him a Tracey Emin print.

Art UK director, Andrew Ellis, said: “Russell’s passion for art and desire to democratise access to the sometimes rarefied world of art chimes well with the work of Art UK.”

Tovey is also co-author of the Sunday Times bestselling book Talk Art.

With more than 80 percent of the nation’s art not on view, Art UK strives to make art less elitist and more accessible.

Above The Being Human star hopes to make art more accessible

Above Women artists at Académie Julian in Paris

30 seconds with... Sophie Higgs, the new head of designer goods at the Moreton-in-Marsh auctioneers Kinghams How did you start in the business? I began working in the jewellery trade in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham before I found my feet at a local auctioneers where my passion for vintage and pre-loved designer handbags and accessories developed.

What has been you best find? I love finding authentic designer handbags among unlikely hoards in charity shops, or at fairs. I once came across an immaculate vintage Gucci bag when checking a binbag full of inexpensive handbags at a car boot sale.

What would be the piece you would most like to come across? A Hermès Kelly Doll handbag – a very rare, yet very fun, example of one of the most soughtafter, recognisable handbags in the world. Imagine your classic Kelly handbag but with a large smiley face on the front, with arms and legs. Hard to believe such a handbag exists.

I’d love to find one; the cross between light-hearted playfulness and sophisticated elegance appeals to me.

Do you collect, or own, anything special? I own many handbags, as I’m sure you can imagine, but I once purchased a stunning vintage Chanel dress for an unbelievable price that I adore. I wear it only seldomly.

Are there any under-the-radar bags/ designer goods set to make it big? Many brands revive and reinvent older designs which in turn drives up the demand and value of these bags. You never know which vintage or discontinued handbag will make a comeback. How is the market for designer goods? The second-hand market for designer goods is booming as people become more and more conscious about sustainability in fashion. Buying pre-loved not only means the buyer is saving money, they are also making an ethical decision about how their fashion choices are contributing to, rather than taking away from, the environment.

Kinghams’ next sale is Decorative Arts from March 4-5.

8 ANTIQUE COLLECTING