Woolley & Wallis

A hugely romantic 18th century enamel, ruby and diamond ring sold for £16,000 at Woolley & Wallis (£25% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on February 1-2.

A collection of Georgian gold and enamel mourning rings with aristocratic pedigrees comes for sale at Woolley & Wallis on April 20.

Cups with coconut bowls mounted in silver or silver-gilt were fashionable rarities in western Europe throughout the 16th and early 17th century. At the time the coconut was, like other ‘exotics’ such as nautilus shells or imported pottery and porcelain, held in high esteem.

A private collection of naval and military vinaigrettes was among the highlights of a recent Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’ premium) Silver & Objects of Vertu auction. It included examples of both familiar and less-familiar models.

A rare vista showing London before the Great Fire of 1666 is on offer at Woolley & Wallis’ sale of Old Masters, British & European Paintings on March 8.

Two Henry Lamb (1883-1960) landscapes, unseen in public since the early 1960s, attracted a flurry of bids

Five-figure stars from north India and South America took top honours at a notably international sale at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) on January 18-19.

Italianate coffee pots and covered sugar basins are the most recognisable domestic forms in Maltese silver. And they are much coveted.

Works by Mr Brainwash (b.1966) are becoming an increasingly common sight at auction.

Creative examples featured in recent UK auctions show the influence of religion and culture on the Manchu rulers of the Qing

The Rokujuyoshu Meisho Zue (Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces) series was the last great landscape work created by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858).

The Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) silver department sold a private collection of over 100 vinaigrettes assembled in the 1980s.

The top-seller of the small Chinese offering from Exbury House was this colourful, elaborate 18th century cloisonné cong.

The unashamed opulence of interior decoration that became known as Le Goût Rothschild as it spread from 19th century France to Austria, Germany and Britain is a style that has always been admired.

Leading the sale of Fine Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks at Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on October 6 was a very fine pair of blue john and ormolu perfume burners by Matthew Boulton and John Fothergill.

The Shropshire pottery, Maw & Co of Jackfield, is best known for the mass production of earthenware tiles and architectural ceramics.

Distinctive plaques made to mark births are unique to the Suffolk town’s porcelain factory.

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

The most desirable pieces of Lowestoft porcelain are typically the documentary pieces decorated with East Anglian scenes.

An area of specific current interest is high-quality English 19th century clocks with precision movements housed in carriage or mantel cases.