Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Artistic skills better than admin, it seems, judging by views of Mauritius
07 August 2023Thomas Bradshaw has been described as a poor civil servant but a brilliant artist.
Bidders cotton on to Egyptian medals appeal
07 August 2023The esteem in which British botanist William Lawrence Balls (1882-1960) was held is obvious from lots offered at Norfolk auction house Keys (25% buyer’s premium) on July 26-28.
Gallantry medal was awarded to policeman who tackled a pair of murderers
07 August 2023A Queen’s Gallantry Medal in its case of issue awarded to a police constable who helped to catch two violent escaped prisoners sold for £2400 at auction.
RAF collector swooped on rare medals combo
07 August 2023It may be stating the obvious, but collectors acquire militaria for many different reasons within that market.
Gilbert White work’s family value
07 August 2023Apocrypha sold at auction was his personal copy and then inscribed by descendants who later owned it
A Napoleonic prisoner-of-war ship model is among five lots to watch
31 July 2023With estimates from £300, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Photographica: Double visions – stereoscopes
24 July 2023An early version of virtual reality, the Victorian craze of stereoscopes is firmly in focus this summer
Sir Brian May: one vision
24 July 2023Denis Pellerin, co-curator of the Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy (BMAS) and co-curator of the upcoming Watts Gallery exhibition, tells ATG about the collection
Kreem of the Truro collection
24 July 2023A Cornish saleroom offered over 300 enamel signs, advertising memorabilia, pump globes, vehicle mascots and collectables from a single-owner collection.
A sip that gave magical power
24 July 2023This form of drinking vessel, with handles and lobed edges to the top of the bowl, would have been passed around the table.
From chocolate and tea to tyres and petrol: a promotional selection of results
24 July 2023Recent advertising highlights from UK sales and an Italian auction
US photos vendor strikes gold with westward expansion
24 July 2023Rather than the rich and famous it was this photograph of three haggard workers that caught the eye in a Cincinnati saleroom.
Stereoscopic viewer perfect for a sales drive
24 July 2023Looking more like a sale brochure when unopened, the embossed front cover shown below in fact conceals a rare 1906 stereoscopic viewer.
Huge archive of slides takes 40 times the top estimate
24 July 2023Anyone sitting through a slideshow of images from an extraordinary photograph collection of Indian, south-east Asian, and Middle Eastern subjects sold in a US auction could be there for a long time.
Look at the big picture thanks to huge Leica dummy sales models
24 July 2023Leica cameras of rather different dimensions to normal clicked into action at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).
Your photo calling card: the carte de visite craze
24 July 2023Just as stereoscope images became a Victorian collecting craze, another notable photographic fad of the era was the carte de visite
Viking artefacts found in a field are among five lots to watch
17 July 2023With estimates from £1000, here are five previews of upcoming items.
Preview: a work presented by Dickens to his Latin tutor
17 July 2023Shown here is a copy in Latin of the 'Quirtii Horatii Flacci' opera, 1823, presented by Charles Dickens to his Latin tutor Richard Shiers (mentioned in a book titled 'The Life of Charles Dickens', p45).