Metalware
This sector comprises artefacts made from both base and precious metals. Many antique items were originally used for domestic purposes but are now collected on account of their craftsmanship, decorative quality and social interest.
Items can range from include pewter jugs, tin pots, brass bells, copper weathervanes and cast iron benches.
While this area offers plenty of affordable material, rare historical survivors can command high prices.
![Leather blackjack tankard](/media/64421/img_5-2.jpg?rxy=0.30240549828178692,0.17922606924643583&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132590748230000000)
Horse to tankard: Oliver Cromwell’s warhorse mug sells in Dorset
01 March 2021A tankard said to be made from the hide of Oliver Cromwell’s warhorse was the toast of an auction in Dorchester.
![img_39-3.jpg](/media/63987/img_39-3.jpg?rxy=0.47008547008547008,0.32738095238095238&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132578645100000000)
Cluny Museum moves in to buy knightly ornament at auction
15 February 2021The Cluny Museum in Paris, dedicated to works of art from the Middle Ages, pre-empted two items in a Pierre Bergé & Associes sale of Haute Epoque in Paris.
![img_12-1.jpg](/media/63657/img_12-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132572511810000000)
No public view? No worries…
08 February 2021Despite lockdown restrictions Bonhams' traditional Oak Interior offerings performed very well
![img_37-3.jpg](/media/61862/img_37-3.jpg?rxy=0.51305970149253732,0.315&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132512208360000000)
Wingett goes for upmarket upcycling turning scrap into a super Georgian cistern
30 November 2020In an act of decidedly upmarket upcycling, dealer Simon Wingett of Burton Antiques and his business partner have commissioned a series of casts of a George II wine cistern to be made from scrap.
![img_16-5.jpg](/media/61255/img_16-5.jpg?rxy=0.4838709677419355,0.34317343173431736&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132500049230000000)
Firing demand: three fenders eagerly contested at autumn sales
16 November 2020Pictured here are three quite different brass fireside fenders – all of them eagerly contested at autumn sales.
![img_11-5.jpg](/media/60156/img_11-5.jpg?rxy=0.47302904564315351,0.21381142098273573&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132475812910000000)
Ingenious design for travelling chalice
19 October 2020Made from paktong, a zinc, copper and nickel (or similar) alloy resembling silver, this c.1780 English travelling chalice, or cup, is modelled on drinking glasses of the period.
![img_18-5.jpg](/media/59668/img_18-5.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132461990600000000)
Lot watched by eager beaker bidders
05 October 2020Silver by major names from the early to late years of last century were major eyecatchers at the Lacy Scott & Knight (20% buyer’s premium) 20th Century Design Sale in Bury St Edmunds.
Police call for help to find stolen Cotswolds post box sawn from its mount
13 August 2020A Royal Mail post box has been sawn from its mount in a Cotswold village and local police are hoping to trace it.
![img_22-3.jpg](/media/57247/img_22-3.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132396592400000000)
Ivory in demand ahead of trade ban
20 July 2020Despite – or because of – the imminent prohibition, good-quality antique ivory works of art continue to bring solid prices at auction.
![img_21-1.jpg](/media/57241/img_21-1.jpg?rxy=0.45591397849462367,0.4731182795698925&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132397168870000000)
Bromsgrove metalwork blows estimates away
20 July 2020From the house clearance of a deceased estate, a small collection of Arts & Crafts metalwork triggered an estimate-demolishing response from dealers and collectors at Fieldings (20% buyer’s premium).
![img_35-5.jpg](/media/56234/img_35-5.jpg?rxy=0.33603238866396762,0.17699115044247787&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132366987320000000)
Musik plays part as one of three €100,000 top-sellers
15 June 2020Sotheby’s Paris (25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) reported a cumulative total of €5.4m for the five online sales it held over two weeks in mid May through to early June. The initiative attracted new buyers, said the auction house, with 35% in the jewellery sale and 27% in the Contemporary art auction.
![img_24-3.jpg](/media/55289/img_24-3.jpg?rxy=0.44959677419354838,0.39591836734693875&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132342768110000000)
Louis XIV vases stand out in summer sales at Christie’s Paris
18 May 2020Christie’s Paris rooms has announced a programme of 18 summer sales that it will be holding over May, June and July. These are a mixture of timed auctions and live online (huis clos) auctions.
![img_22-3.jpg](/media/55283/img_22-3.jpg?rxy=0.45833333333333331,0.25826771653543307&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132342763170000000)
English Arts & Crafts enamel plaques come to the fore in Cincinnati
18 May 2020Treadway’s (25/20/15% buyer’s premium) Spring sale in Cincinnati was led by examples of Tiffany glassware and a Gallé ceramic.
![img_11-2.jpg](/media/54600/img_11-2.jpg?rxy=0.28179551122194513,0.12898089171974522&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132324537980000000)
Ingenious chalices conceal Catholic purpose
27 April 2020The Penal Laws weigh heavily on the history of Ireland. Before they were largely repealed in the period 1778-93, the series of statutes were imposed in an attempt to force Irish Catholics (and Protestant dissenters) to accept the established Church of Ireland.
![img_28-3.jpg](/media/54682/img_28-3.jpg?rxy=0.4331983805668016,0.34169278996865204&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132324591950000000)
Raise a tankard to online sales at Bonhams Australia
27 April 2020Bonhams Australia is holding its first auction behind closed doors in Sydney on May 13 with bidding online and by phone.
![img_28-1.jpg](/media/54680/img_28-1.jpg?rxy=0.44281524926686217,0.67215363511659809&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132324588960000000)
Rare glass perfume bottle and Arts & Crafts pewter bowl designed by Archibald Knox emerge in Cincinnati
27 April 2020Treadway Gallery’s Spring Sale of decorative arts will be held in Cincinnati on May 3 using phone, internet and absentee bidding but with no public attendance.
![img_9-2.jpg](/media/54502/img_9-2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132318483160000000)
Architects of a house sale success at Dreweatts
20 April 2020Contents of Palladian home in County Durham provide showpiece auction in Newbury
![Lalanne, A Life-Size Family of Bronze Hippopatmuses. Sotheby's Paris, Design Sale June 2020 (7).jpg](/media/54179/lalanne-a-life-size-family-of-bronze-hippopatmuses-sothebys-paris-design-sale-june-2020-7.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132309175440000000)
Hippo bathroom set by François-Xavier Lalanne scrubs up nicely for Sotheby’s Paris auction
13 April 2020A bathroom set in the form of a family of hippos by François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008) is set to be a highlight of Sotheby’s Paris design auction in late June.
![img_15-1.jpg](/media/52822/img_15-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132276186380000000)
Second chance for works from Spetchley Park offered at Chorley’s
02 March 2020Second-dibs sales at regional salerooms – those that follow after a major London auctioneer has cherry-picked the contents of a stately country house – can sometimes acquire the slighting epithet of ‘crumbs from a rich man’s table’.
![img_14-3.jpg](/media/52819/img_14-3.jpg?rxy=0.43445692883895132,0.34979423868312759&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=132276242040000000)
Art Deco duo dance into North Shields
02 March 2020Briefly catalogued, but accurately estimated, this bronze and ivory dancing couple was the outstanding star at Featonby’s (18.75% buyer’s premium) recent sale in North Shields.
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