Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Gun from Louis XIII’s famous cabinet sets a record for a wheellock firearm at auction
28 August 2024Result reflects quality and provenance of the remarkable weapon from a renowned collection
Early Australia takes shape: maps sold at auction in Melbourne
27 August 2024Seventeenth and 18th century maps sold in Melbourne auction show how much discoveries had revealed
Pick of the Week: Not Braveheart but Brucehead…
27 August 2024Long before the American/Australian actor Mel Gibson gladdened Scottish hearts with the woad-splattered film Braveheart, the early 19th century was an awakening for Caledonian identity.
Captain must have made a packet to live in a Falmouth house that grand
27 August 2024Two religious works were among an intriguing archive of items relating to a famed Falmouth packet ship commander and family that impressed at Lay’s (21% buyer’s premium) auction in Lanner, Cornwall, on August 8.
Export bar placed on Alan Turing’s unpublished Second World War papers
20 August 2024A remarkable archive of newly discovered scientific papers by the mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing and his collaborator Donald Bayley has been temporarily blocked from export.
UK buyer sought for remarkable Iron Age coin
19 August 2024A temporary export bar has been placed on an Iron Age coin bearing the name of a hitherto unknown local British ruler, to allow time for a UK gallery or institution to attempt to make a purchase.
Iron Age coin bearing the name of a hitherto unknown British ruler is blocked from export
16 August 2024A temporary export bar has been placed on a British coin sold at auction that features the never-seen-before name Esunertos.
Cleethorpes also so bracing as Skegness as LNER poster demonstrates
12 August 2024While the famous railway poster featuring the Jolly Fisherman (see ATG No 2653) promoted Skegness, the example shown here was intended to tempt holidaymaker to another Lincolnshire seaside resort.
Auction reveals depth of a Dodo obsession
12 August 2024Last week we reported the sale of a taxidermy display including the extinct Huia bird of New Zealand (at Kinghams). On September 24, it is the turn of another long-gone species to be brought to life in auction terms, at least.
The Hobbit stands tall for new auction high
12 August 2024Spotlight on copy sold in superb Strutz collection – plus a look at other recent results for the Tolkien classic
Pink Frankenstein shines in Strutz sale part one
12 August 2024William Strutz’s library built within his home in Bismarck, North Dakota, consisted of some 15,000 books, which the attorney began assembling while in college in the late 1950s
Roll up, roll up for an auction extravaganza of fairground memorabilia
10 August 2024All the fun of the fair comes to Bonhams New Bond Street with a sale featuring an array of vintage and antique fairground figures and carvings, ride seats shaped as animals, games and posters.
Dead as a Dodo but definitely alive as a specialised collecting market
07 August 2024Last week a taxidermy display including the extinct Huia bird of New Zealand sold for £38,000 at Kinghams’ sale. On September 24, it is the turn of another long-gone species to be brought to life in auction terms, at least.
Lot that shows loads of interest
05 August 2024The rarity of an unusual saleroom visitor - and its original condition - was confirmed after research by Bonhams’ arms and armour department.
Wild West adventuress Lilian impressed Buffalo Bill Cody
05 August 2024It’s not often that you hear the phrase “grandmother of the vendor, by repute the first woman in the world to jump through a flaming hoop on the back of a horse”.
Arms and armour: A selection of swords in play at auction
05 August 2024Edged weapons have been a strong feature of the market recently and involve a wide range of ages, styles and countries