Roseberys

The classic ‘orange’ Pulcini glass bird is deemed the most common of the five designed by Pianon.

In the spring of 1940, Eric Ravilious (1903-42) spent three weeks in Grimsby during his role as a war artist.

Billed as the first printed edition of the most authoritative medical text in the Islamic world, a 1593 copy of a work known in the English-speaking world as Avicenna’s ‘Canon of Medicine’ was part of a recent London sale.

While dedicated sales of English and Continental ceramics are rarer beasts in the saleroom calendar these days, the traditional mixed-discipline regional sales are a repository for plenty of material from the main factories of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Last November Roseberys in London sold a set of 16 paintings on silk by Kim Jun Keun, better known by his artistic name Kisan, for a surprise £40,000.

Underpinned by bids from the internet, silver from beyond the British Isles is these days a stronger feature of provincial sales.

It was on the battlefield of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 that the name of James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868) first became etched into public memory.

Seemingly, whatever fashion website or Instagram influencer you choose, the brooch is this season’s ‘on-trend’ accessory. One might argue that in the trade, demand for good period examples of this ‘forgotten’ or ‘old fashioned’ item of jewellery has never really gone away.

Now a regular fixture for a number of auction houses, specialist Modern Design sales have moved a long way since the days when the title could mean mountains of Moorcroft and Clarice Cliff and not a lot more.

Burne-Jones’ studio assistant shows his own artistic skills in the Pre-Raphaelite genre.

In the wake of record auction prices – the first £1m bottle of whisky and a $500,000 bottle of wine – four auction specialists discuss the lively market for fine and rare wines and whisky. A potted history of wine-related antiques follows. First up: Richard Brierley of Forum Auctions and Sam Hellyer of Chiswick Auctions on the wine market.