Germany

In 1959, some two years after the German painter Otto Piene founded the ZERO group of artists together with his colleague Heinz Mack, he began producing his so-called 'Rauchbilder' (Smoke Paintings).

An early 18th century, Qing Dynasty, Chinese blue and white painted porcelain charger caused the biggest surprise at the March 2 sale held by Kendzia (16% buyer’s premium) in Hamburg.

In 1926, after two years of negotiations, two German automobile producers joined forces to become Mercedes-Benz.

Many late 19th and early 20th century art collectors were entranced by Wilhelm Kuhnert’s (1865-1926) realistic portrayals of exotic animals in the wild.

Soon after the Italian coin engraver Benedetto Pistrucci moved to England in 1815, he received a prestigious task from William Wellesley-Pole, the Master of the Mint. He was commissioned with the creation of a series of new gold coins for George III.

Cologne auction house Lempertz (25% buyer’s premium) opened its auction year with a sale of African and Oceanic works of art in Brussels.

In 1903, only one year before his death, Emile Gallé was commissioned by the Belgian company Solvay et Cie with the creation of a bowl to mark the 30th anniversary of its factory in Dombasle.

Among the technically most complex pieces ever created in the porcelain manufacture in Meissen were the so-called 'Schneeballen-Vasen' (snowball vases).

Italian design is in the spotlight at Quittenbaum in Munich on March 19.

Malagan figures played an integral and complex role in the rituals of the tribes of New Ireland, the north-eastern province of Papua New Guinea.

A German collector consigned 28 carpets for the November 25 sale at Rippon Boswell (25% buyer’s premium) in Wiesbaden.

The work of Belgian artist celebrated in his day is coveted by modern collectors judging by latest sales.

Only a few months after several ornamental pieces of silver by the Viennese designer Dagobert Peche, one of the leading lights of the Wiener Werkstätte, caused a sensation in Düsseldorf (ATG No 2613, the auction house Kinsky (28% buyer’s premium) achieved an impressive result for a work by him.

The decision by Cologne auction house Lempertz (26% buyer’s premium) to postpone the sale of Max Pechstein’s 1909 Expressionist work Selbstbildnis, liegend (Self Portrait, lying down) from June to December 1 proved to be a wise one.

While auction prices for works of art from Japan can scarcely compete with those achieved for pieces from China, the sale at Hargesheimer (28% buyer’s premium) in Düsseldorf on November 30 showed that there is still a healthy market for netsuke.

When it was last on public view, at a Berlin exhibition in 1981, the Portrait of a Black Courtier was attributed to the early 18th century Prussian court painter Antoine Pesne.

By all accounts, the Bulgarian prince and later Tsar Ferdinand I was a passionate railway enthusiast.

Once believed to be by Rubens, work hidden away during the war is now thought to be a copy by a pupil

The combination of a pre-eminent maker and a perfect provenance made a late 18th century pocket chronometer one of the most sought-after pieces at Dr Crott (25% buyer’s premium) in Mannheim on November 18.

The biggest surprise of Wendl’s (21% buyer’s premium) extensive general sale in Rudolstadt on October 25-28 was the seemingly never-ending exchange of bids for an early 18th century Old Master which had a starting price of €900.