Collectables

Aaron Kasmin, a British artist, became fascinated by US feature matchbooks.

This 19th century carved Siena marble inkstand is fashioned in the form of an ancient Roman sarcophagus.

The name Steve Ditko (1927-2018) scarcely needs an introduction to comic collectors.

A single-lot auction conducted by the sealed bids process has set a record for a transfer printed pot lid.

Account of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb comes as rare set with dust jackets intact

A fine Oscar Wilde letter sold for £16,000 at Dawsons (25% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead on June 29.

The Vinyl Cape Jawa was the first Star Wars action figure to assume mythic status among collectors.

From late 1940 to early 1941 André Breton and a group of other Surrealists including Wifredo Lam, Max Ernst, Oscar Dominguez, Victor Brauner, André Masson and Frédéric Delanglade re-located to Marseille where they anxiously awaited visas to escape occupied France.

Antiques furniture dealer Philip Crosthwaite’s popular monthly antiques fair in Norwich will feature Richard Goddard, who sells antique vintage tools for a worthy social cause.

Our regular listing of auctions available via thesaleroom.com

A fine example of Viking metalworking was offered at Noonans (24% buyer’s premium) in Mayfair on July 18.

A postcard carried on the world’s first official airmail flight came up for auction in Staffordshire.

Firmly in the British jingoistic ‘boy’s own’ tradition, a collection of Commando comic books turned heads when offered at Stourbridge saleroom Fieldings last year (see ATG No 2556).

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including an Edward VIII halfcrown that was never issued being offered at Noonans.

It’s the end of an era: Volvo will no longer sell its estates or saloon cars in the UK, choosing to market only its SUVs.

The ivory-made launching mallet and silver casket from the ill-fated RMS Empress of Ireland came for sale at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow.

A silver and gold presentation belt given to a civilian volunteer nurse who looked after the sick and wounded during the Siege of Ladysmith during the second Boer War has soared over estimate in a London auction.

A 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.

Apocrypha sold at auction was his personal copy and then inscribed by descendants who later owned it