1. ‘Dirty Dozen’ watches
Fellows’ Luxury Watch Sale today (August 24) contains a full set of Second World War ‘Dirty Dozen’ watches.
All designed by different watch manufacturers, these were commissioned by the British Ministry of Supply for the armed forces. They needed watches suitable for the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. These were designed and delivered in 1944 and 1945, respectively. The Dirty Dozen watches were created in extremely limited supply.
The watches offered here will be sold with a box perfectly fitting all 12 and are estimated at £25,000-35,000.
View and bid for this collection of military issue 'the Dirty Dozen' wrist watches via thesaleroom.com.
2. Model locomotive
On August 25 Capes Dunn will be selling the residue of a single-owner collection of model rail and related items. An auction of the bulk of the collection took place on June 14, 2016 – The Robert Fysh Collection of Rail and Railwayana – when the well-known local collector moved to a nursing home due to ill health.
Sadly, Fysh died earlier this year. Capes Dunn says: “Like a true collector, he had retained many items that it had been too painful to let go four years earlier. His relatives commented that he must have been the world record holder for the number of items kept in one bedroom.”
Shown here is an Accucraft UK mint and boxed 0 Gauge large-scale live steam model of an NG16 Garratt 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 locomotive, Edison Green, No 138, about 2ft 8in (81cm) long.
Estimate £800-1200.
View and bid for this locomotive model via thesaleroom.com.
3. 19th century plate of Drury Lane theatre
This plate titled Drury Lane Theatre comes from an 1821 two-volume edition of Real Life in London or The Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho And his Cousin The Hon Tom Dashwood through the Metropolis.
Dated 1821, the author Pierce Egan is described here only as 'an amateur'. This tales of the rough street life in Regency London is thought to be the source of the expression Tom and Jerry, meaning fighting, drinking and causing trouble.
At Wotton Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire on August 24-26 the estimate is £100-150.
View the three-day Trains, Books, Antiques and Works of Art sale via thesaleroom.com.
4. Shakespeare halfpenny
Estimated at £500-700 in the Dix Noonan Webb August 27 British Tokens, Tickets and Passes auction is this brass halfpenny or medal, 13.82gm, 1800. It shows Shakespeare on one side, while on the other it states This is my work John Gregory Hancock aged 7 years 1800 Industry produceth wealth.
Child prodigy John Gregory Hancock (baptised 1792), of Birmingham, was the son of die sinker John Gregory Hancock (c.1750-1805), but seems to have pre-deceased his father as there is no real trace of him after these prodigious token issues, the last of which are in 1800.
View and bid for this Shakespeare halfpenny via thesaleroom.com.
5. Bernard Leach jar
A chip to this 4in (10cm) Bernard Leach jar with an impressed St Ives mark has been restored with a Japanese gold lacquer (kintsugi) repair.
It comes for sale at Ma San Auction in Bath on August 27 from the collection of the late Brian Page (1938-2018), the well-known Oriental art and antiques dealer from Brighton.
Page was a great admirer of Leach and had tea with him on more than one occasion during the 1960s.
Estimate £150-250.
View and bid for this Bernard Leach jar via thesaleroom.com.