Collectables

A collection of more than 400 corkscrews assembled over 40 years by an “old-school connoisseur” is to be auctioned at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes.

Newly formed Australian firm Abacus Auctions holds its second sale on July 22, devoted to coins and banknotes plus a selection of collectables and sporting memorabilia.

Two notable single-owner collections, augmented by items from the round of Oriental art sales, made spring a bumper crop in the specialist world of fans.

Advertising and souvenir fans from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries received a mixed reception at the April 10 Special Auction Services sale at Newbury devoted to works collected by the late Martin Willcocks.

Marvel comics in considerable numbers were a feature of a May 10 sale held by Golding Young & Mawer (20% buyer’s premium).

An ink and watercolour drawing from one of Hergé’s finest works achieved a stand-out result at a recent auction in France.

Bid to $1.5m (£1.11m) in a record-breaking comic and comic art sale in Chicago was a Frank Frazetta artwork.

Comic strip artworks to be offered as part of the June 5 ‘Illustration Art’ sale at Swann Auction Galleries will include a 1970 'Peanuts strip' by Charles Schulz estimated at $20,000-30,000.

A remarkable collection of around 4500 postcards relating to a wide range of aspects of Jewish life in the 19th and 20th centuries was the fascinating, and often sobering, centre of interest when offered by Norfolk auction house Horners (17% buyer’s premium).

With more than 35 years’ collecting experience each, Mark Singleton and Steve Greatrex have launched Silvertone Music Boxes, a dealership devoted to mechanical music.

This year marks a 20th anniversary for Northamptonshire dealer Mark Goodger. He first established the business Hampton Antiques with his wife Sara in 1998 and deals in antique boxes and accessories from the 18th-21st centuries.

Paul Comolera (1818-97) was one of a series of prominent sculptors who travelled to work in Stoke-on-Trent at a time of political upheaval in France.

Flash from the past at the Diss rooms of TW Gaze (18% buyer’s premium).