Mid-20th century animal study contrasts with traditional ornithological work in same auction.

Drawing keen interest at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) in Derbyshire last month was a work by Belgian painter Francois Joseph Navez (1787-1869), an artist who rarely appears in the UK salerooms.

One of the highest prices for Albert Chevallier Tayler (1862-1925) at a UK auction in the last 10 years was achieved at Roseberys’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest picture sale when a late Victorian ‘period’ scene attracted multiple bidders.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales at £700 or under, including social history scenes.

Landscape painter Sidney Richard Percy (1821-86) is described in Christopher Wood’s Dictionary of Victorian Painters as “a prolific and variable painter, and his prices vary accordingly”.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales at £750 or under, including an oil by designer known more for Arts & Crafts jewellery and furniture.

Somerset auction shows how bidders are very sensitive to how works are estimated.

One notable consequence of the growing prevalence of charity shops on the high street is that auctioneers are receiving more and more items that these organisations want to check in case they are valuable.

Against the backdrop of a weakening pound, the price of gold in the UK has hit an all-time high.

It may be a well-rehearsed refrain, but the Old Master market is much more subject to vagaries of supply than demand. Almost without fail, when high-quality fresh material is offered, bidders will come. Just getting it in the first place is the hard part.

Christie’s highest price for an Old Master this summer came in the stand-alone Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection sale on July 4.

While the vast majority of works at Old Master sales are by European artists, an unusual offering at Bonhams’ sale on July 3 was a Latin American work by a painter with Afro-Caribbean ancestry.