Germany

This year, Munich auction house Ketterer (32/27/22% buyer’s premium) is marking its 70th anniversary and the evening sale provided plenty of opportunities for celebration.

Recent sales show the appetite for Chinese art from bidders with deep pockets is not at all diminished

Nagel’s (29.5% buyer’s premium) first sale dedicated to Fine Arts and Luxury in Stuttgart obviously caught the mood of the bidders.

In recent years, there has been an upsurge in interest for works by Adolph Menzel (see also ATG No 2649), whose works often go way above the guides and achieve unexpected six-figure prices.

Sometime c.1900, a craftsman or accomplished amateur spent a lot of time building or converting a 6ft 7in (2m) cupboard into a fully fitted dolls’ house.

Examples of products by Viennese factory founded 10 years after Meissen prove popular purchases

Selection of items by the Hungarian family firm date from most in-demand era of production

A fine example of Thai silversmithing sold well above its estimate for €17,000 (£14,400) at Historia Auctionata (27% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Berlin on June 19. The 9in (23cm) parcel gilt and niello pumpkin-form tea kettle probably dated from the 1870s.

The Rare Books sale at Ketterer Kunst (25/20/19% buyer’s premium) in Hamburg on May 27 included this first edition dedication copy of Das Kapital (1867).

On May 8, Neumeister (30% buyer’s premium) in Munich sold the collection of Hans Constantin Faussner, a Bavarian lawyer and art collector.

It is safe to say that nowadays the image of a smoking dog would find little favour with animal rights activists or for that matter with the current (for now) UK Prime Minister.

A monumental painting of a fish market soared to unexpected heights at the May 16 auction at Lempertz (26% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.

June 2, 1878, began as a normal day in the varied life of the German artist Adolph von Menzel.

This recently discovered example of the iconic Bauhaus tea-infuser, designed by Marianne Brandt in 1924, on offer at Lempertz on May 15 for €200,000, was knocked down to the Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum for Art and Industry) for €260,000 (£222,220).

Art in Germany might be about to get a bit cheaper with the German government confirming it will cut the VAT on art sales from 19% to 7% in line with its import VAT.

Moses automaton watch is one of the stand-out hammer highlights in recent sales

If proof were needed that regional British clockmakers were as capable of making impressive works as those of London colleagues, then an 18th century longcase clock being sold by Metz on July 19-20 in Heidelberg without reserve, provides it.

Published between 1750-73, Plantae selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortis curiosorum (‘A selection of plants from natural specimens nurtured in London’s curious gardens’) is considered the most important botanical work ever printed in Germany.