Hansons

The Minton ‘fungi and foxes’ tureen is among the rarest of all majolica game pie dishes.

A cheaper storage solution than secondhand furniture at the time, this steamer trunk, shown right, from a Twickenham bric-a-brac shop was the economic option for a father buying a practical gift for his daughter’s first flat.

Items collected and meticulously recorded from the 1970s onwards by a trade couple had the attractions of ‘dealer’s choice’ provenances when offered at Hanson Holloway’s Ross (25% buyer’s premium).

It was during the Song dynasty that tea parties became the vogue and tea houses flourished.

Power of the Force line was launched as the original Star Wars began to lose its shine but rarest figures still bring demand

The top-selling lots at Hansons’ April 1 Fine Art Sale were two pieces of Chinese blue and white porcelain.

As famous last words go, those of Major General John Sedgwick in the American Civil War take some beating.

Harry Potter just keeps on doing well at auction, and Hansons (25% buyer’s premium), which has enjoyed a particularly close and profitable relationship with JK Rowling’s creation over the years, had more to offer in a March 9 sale.

Marriage or betrothal rings of the Byzantine period depict the bride and groom with Christ who performs the marriage rite.

Pedal cars are regular visitors to salerooms but rarer powered versions were also produced for children to use, partly for road safety training

Marked for Savage & Lyman, Montreal, c.1855-60, this silver tankard was awarded to British bare-knuckle boxer Tom Sayers.

Still a figure of glamour 450 years after her execution, Mary Queen of Scots was reputed to have embroidered the c.16th century fragment of bed curtain sold at Hansons (25% buyer’s premium) at Etwall on December 7.

Sixteenth-century globes rarely appear on the market. So, Jim Spencer, Hansons’ works on paper specialist, had been amazed to encounter one at a valuation day in Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

Amassed by the headmaster of one of Britain’s finest public schools, the Silk collection of Staffordshire portrait figures provides a fillip to an overlooked market

Derbyshire auction house Hansons (25% buyer’s premium) sold memorabilia this summer worn by two Manchester United favourites of different eras: George Best and David Beckham.

A humble table tennis bat bought at a car boot sale in Surrey for £3.50 served up a surprise at Hansons’ (25% buyer’s premium) London monthly auction on September 25.

A pair of early 19th century Staffordshire pearlware figures modelled after bare-knuckle boxers Tom Cribb and Tom Molineaux who fought for a ‘world title’ of sorts is estimated at £3000-5000 in Tennants’ Autumn Fine Sale on November 13 in Leyburn.