Mallams

A couple of cat pictures made bidders’ whiskers twitch of late.

A lucernal microscope is a rare survivor.

A group of Victorian rowing memorabilia generated plenty of bidding at Claydon Auctioneers (19.5% buyer’s premium) in Buckinghamshire on June 25-26.

More than 70 lots of paintings, works on paper and antiques assembled by the well-known auctioneer and collector Paul Whitfield (1942- 2018) went under the hammer at Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) in Oxford on May 17.

The Qing hexagonal form blue and white jardinière shown here is a type used to grow flowers or bonsai at the Qing court.

The professional goldsmith and jewellery designer was not the first woman in such a role but received significant prominence in the Victorian era under her own name

Mallams regained the record for a pot by Jennifer Lee (b.1956) on May 18 when a large asymmetrical vessel from c.1990 sold at £40,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium).

This untitled work from c.1945 by Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) comprises a mahogany relief applied with oil paint. It was offered at Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) of Oxford on May 17-18 as part of its Modern Art & Design sale.

In a style admired in the gardens at Versailles and at a House & Garden sale in Abingdon, a pair of urns after those created for Louis XIV’s great project led the field at Mallams (25% buyer’s premium).

This special edition of A Japanese Collection (1898) by Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) is one of the first 25 copies printed on Indian paper and is signed and dedicated by the author to his daughter Dora.

The Asian & Islamic Art sale at Mallams in Cheltenham on May 24 includes items from the collection of auctioneer Paul Whitfield (1942–2018).

French artist Louis Tesson (1820-70) is best known for his genre paintings in the Middle East and north Africa.

A flurry of bids emerged at Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) in Oxford for a particularly fine 17th century portrait of a young woman.

Early example note from Sir Christopher Wren issue takes group lot to high four figure price

Featured in an Oxford sale was a copy of the 1893, Kelmscott Press edition of The History of Godefrey of Boloyne and of the Conquest of Jerusalem.

By the end of the First World War it has been estimated that over eight million horses had died.

Bidders who missed out on a version of Gerald Summers’ 1933-34 plywood armchair sold for £20,000 as part of a collection of Simple Furniture at Lyon & Turnbull last October did not have too long to wait for another to appear for sale.

A collectors’ timed online sale at Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) included a group lot of early 20th century juvenalia owned by a key figure in Second World War naval intelligence.

Cissie Kean (1871-1961) dedicated her life to painting after sustaining a severe injury during a riding accident as a young adult.