Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Previews: issue 2582
27 February 2023A selection of 11 upcoming lots available at UK and Irish auctions.
Auction marks end of an era for textiles dealer Peta Smyth
27 February 2023Peta Smyth has been dealing in antique textiles since 1976 and her shop at 42 Moreton Street in Pimlico, west London, is renowned for its extensive array of fine textiles, attracting a loyal and diverse clientele of interior designers, antiques dealers and collectors.
A rare 16th century livery cupboard is among five lots to watch
20 February 2023With estimates from £800, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Dhunjeebhoy Rustomjee made his name in shipping
20 February 2023The slide rule shown here belonged to Dhunjeebhoy Rustomjee, who came from a fine line of Indian master ship builders in ancestry.
When Short Brothers started to hit the heights
20 February 2023This instrument dates from the founding days of one of the world’s most significant aerospace manufacturers: Short Brothers
Vulcan cameras on buyers’ radar
20 February 2023The prototype B1 Vulcan first flew in 1952 and it is a sign of the design’s longevity and durability that the last of these bombers was taken out of service only in 1984.
Gems from a golden age of French automata
20 February 2023The Paris firm of Roullet & Decamps was famous for automata, walking and moving dolls and toys.
Navigate a route, north and south
20 February 2023Jason Clarke Antiques has for sale at £8500 this unusually large 9in diameter, c.1770, universal equinoctial ring dial by Dollond of London
Previews: issue 2581
20 February 2023A selection of 13 upcoming lots available at UK and Irish auctions.
Telescope on offer from renowned German maker
20 February 2023Georg Merz and Joseph Mahler took over the Utzschneider & Fraunhofer company in 1839.
Quadrant provided early help if all at sea
20 February 2023The Winter Maritime Sale at Eldreds on February 28-March 1 includes an 18th century Islamic brass quadrant made in the Maghreb region of north-west Africa.
Optical expertise all round
20 February 2023The famous firm of Negretti & Zambra was formed in London in 1850 by the Italian-born Henry Negretti and Joseph Warren Zambra
Marine clock of Titanic type on offer
20 February 2023London auctioneer Charles Miller holds his next Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments & Art auction on April 25
Prize winning horizontal steam engine shows ‘exceptional engineering’
20 February 2023Steam engine made in France and later installed in Sussex museum graced same exhibition as the Eiffel Tower
Edison Electric Pen turned out to be good for tattooing, not so for copying
20 February 2023Thomas Edison’s electric pen might not have flourished as planned for the purpose of duplicating documents but if you have a tattoo you can be thankful.
Civil engineer’s career took him from Grimsby to Brazil
20 February 2023A substantial Victorian monocular microscope auctioned by Flints (25% buyer’s premium) dated 1858 and 1863 on the objectives was not only a good bit of kit with lots of accessories included but came signed with the owner’s name in several places.
A postcard from poet Philip Larkin is among five lots to watch
13 February 2023With estimates from £300, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Star Wars rarities… but in bulk
13 February 2023Large collection of action figures offers multiple examples of hitherto scarce models to test the market
Black Forest clock carves out auction demand
13 February 2023This monumental Black Forest figural clock with matching stand, c.1880, is a mighty 7ft 1in (2.16m) high overall.
Tales of Timbuktu-born prince and a 116-year-old historian
13 February 2023This single-page letter offered on January 19 by Mellors & Kirk (24% buyer’s premium) tells the remarkable story of Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori (1762-1829).