Auctioneers

A remarkable sketchbook compiled after its creator had been taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore in the Second World War sold for £1650 (estimate £500-700) as part of a timed online sale.

This letter signed by Charles II was written in September 1660, mere months after the restoration of the monarchy.

This North West Mounted Police hat badge caught the attention when Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (25% buyer’s premium) of Exeter sold the remaining personal effects of Canadian soldier and policeman Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele KCMG CB MVO (1848-1919) on March 19.

Two prominent single-owner collections put together into a single Town & Country sale at Dreweatts generated some decent if selective bidding when it came to the pictures on offer.

Among six-figure successes in the medals market, last year Spink sold the ‘Operation Chastise’ Distinguished Flying Cross group of five given to Dambuster Flt Lt Edward ‘Johnnie’ Johnson for £105,000.

With space and privacy at a premium on board ships, sailors used ditty boxes to store their most treasured possessions plus personal necessities and everyday items such as sewing kit.

This large rectangular earthenware trough, measuring 20in (21cm) across the handles, is part of the range of flower containers made by the Fulham Pottery for the society florist Constance Spry (1886-1960) from the mid-1930s to the 1950s.

The latest edition of The Oak Interior auction held by Bishop & Miller (25% buyer’s premium) in Stowmarket on February 28-29 majored heavily on metalwork.

Three-hundred lot sale of the Art Deco classic shows signs of the market returning to 1990s boom time

The Clarice Cliff, Art Deco & Design auction at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on March 20 included this rare 10in (25cm) vase, shape no 375, decorated in the Archaic pattern mirroring a capital design from a temple in Luxor.

Seventeenth century map of Bermondsey area reveals garden suburb character in a pre-industrial age

Mayfair auction house builds on an excellent performance last year with stand-out results at the start of 2024

The Germans began firing V1 flying bombs at Britain in June 1944 and V2 rockets followed that September.

It’s wise to keep a lid on estimates for traditional pictures where condition and market freshness is lacking

A pair of 19th century Parisian novelty silhouette hand screens, made by François Simon Alphonse Giroux, doubled their estimate at auction.

If specialist Karl Martin was the type to take work home with him he’d be in danger of never finding it again.

With an exhibition dedicated to Philip Alexius de László (1869- 1937) having just opened at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury, lively activity in the artist’s market has also come of late.