Bust

John Rolfe from Wotton Auction Rooms had been asked to undertake a valuation for probate in a bungalow near Salisbury when he made an intriguing discovery.

Samplers made by siblings or generations of the same family can attract a significant commercial premium.

Cheffins (24.5% buyer’s premium) in Cambridge has enjoyed some fine referrals from Christie’s in recent times.

This bust of the first American president George Washington (1732-99) is titled to the base, and signed and dated 'R Trentanove Fecc in Roma, 1827'.

The Winter Antiques Sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) was topped by consecutive bids of £17,000 each for two Regency white marble busts.

Aguttes stages a sale of paintings, works of art and furniture titled Passion Patrimoine taking place at Neuilly-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris on September 22.

A terracotta sculpture of Mary Seacole (1805-81) sparked fierce competition at Dominic Winter.

This 19th century bronze bust of George Washington cast by the French metal founder Ferdinand Barbedienne after the model by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) will feature in the Bruneau and Co sale at Cranston, Rhode Island, on March 14.

While furniture and books fully justified its title, The Oxford Library Sale at Mallams (22.5% buyer’s premium) was led by a surprise star: a rather lowly regarded gesso bust of the sort that would have been a minor decoration to such a room.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

This Italian marble bust of an emperor, catalogued as 17th century after the antique, provided a moment of saleroom drama at Sworders’ Fine Interiors auction in Stansted on September 10.

One of the highlights of Cottone’s sale in Geneseo, New York, on September 28 will be this marble head of Dionysos, a Roman copy of a late classical (4th century BC) Greek archetype.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

This over life-sized marble bust depicts Emperor Didius Julianus, who ruled the Roman empire for just a few short months in the year 193AD. His fleeting 66-day reign took place during the tumultuous period known as ‘The Year of the Five Emperors’ and came to a grisly end when he was murdered by a common soldier.

Single buyer secures two key works by one of the main sculptors of the Enlightenment.

Two rediscovered marble busts by the French 18th century sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) are to be offered in Cottone Auctions’ next sale in Geneseo on March 23.