Thomas Watson

Estimated at £100-200 but sold for £2800 at Thomas Watson (25% buyer’s premium) in Darlington on August was a set of four Worcester parian menu holders.

Catalogued simply as ‘a pair of English soft-paste porcelain models of parrots’, these rare 18th century figures by Bow sold at Thomas Watson in Darlington, County Durham, for £16,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) on May 15.

A small soapstone figure of a grinning, reclining Buddha stole the show at Thomas Watson (24% buyer’s premium) of Darlington when it smashed its estimate of £80-120 to sell for £16,500.

The first Rolex Submariner was introduced to the public in 1954 at the Basel Watch Fair but it was Ian Fleming’s fictional spy, James Bond, who in 1962 transformed a reliable and rugged dive watch to a status symbol embodying suave masculinity and a sense of adventure.

Made in various materials across the centuries, brush pots used by Chinese scholars are steady favourites at UK auctions and the blue and white porcelain example shown here was no exception when offered at Thomas Watson’s (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Darlington on June 20.

A selection of vibrant prints, artist’s proofs and portrait studies by the 20th century artist Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) is up for sale in County Durham.

A textbook Renaissance style jewel by Carlo Giuliano (1831-95) led a strong jewellery offering at Thomas Watson (24% buyer’s premium) in Darlington on March 21.