Germany

A big surprise was in store for the owner of a Chinese lacquer plate consigned to Hermann Historica (25% buyer’s premium) in Grasbrunn, just outside Munich.

A string of high prices way over estimates emerged at a recent Asian art sale held by Nagel (24.5% buyer’s premium) in Stuttgart.

A US collector went way over the odds to secure a 15th century southern Indian bronze that took top honours at the Asian art sale at Lempertz (26% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.

The world record for a car sold at auction was broken last month when a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was hammered down for €135m (£112m) on May 5.

By 1920, as a new era of aero-engined racing cars threatened to break the 100mph barrier, the emerging sport of motor racing required better and more precise time-keeping.

In 1923, soon after the Swiss avant-garde artist Alice Bailly painted her 2ft 2in x 20in (65 x 50cm) canvas La cantatrice, it was bought by the collector Friedrich Trüssel at an exhibition in Bern.

Two paintings sold in German auctions were produced by artists killed in wartime

This English deck chronometer is Molyneux No 1326 – made by the London maker Robert Molyneux in c.1830.

Inspired by British Windsor chairs, the Danish designer Hans J Wegner created his so-called Peacock chair in 1947.

Among the numerous sculptures for sale at Nagel’s June 13-14 auction of Asian art in Stuttgart is the ferocious figure of the Tibetan Buddhist deity Dorje Legpa in the incarnation of Damchen Garwai Nakpo, or the Lord of the Forge.

The latter years of the 19th century and the first of the 20th marked the most productive era of the French designer Louis Majorelle.

Twenty-five finely decorated porcelain plaques, several from the legacy of a German aristocratic family, are being sold at auction.

Numerous pieces in the Asian art sale at Lempertz in Cologne on June 11 come from the collection of the German doctor Ludwig Jansen.

This Vienna porcelain tea bowl and saucer from the 1720s is painted en camaieu by Ignaz Preissler (1676-1741).

From the very beginning, the Meissen factory sought close trade relations with the Augsburg goldsmiths.

Koller will hold a three-session sale of Asian art in its Zurich rooms on June 1.

This Charles II ebony and silvermounted table clock by the London golden-age clockmaker Joseph Knibb (1640-1711) emerged for sale in Germany.

Even though the head of the Christ Child was missing, numerous bidders joined in the action when a carved figure of the Madonna with Child came up for sale in Düsseldorf.

The countless designs for furniture and decorative arts created by Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, who were known as Napoleon’s architects, not only found favour with the French emperor but also had an enduring influence on cabinetmakers throughout Europe.

One of the last five works created by the German Expressionist August Macke is for sale at Ketterer Kunst after being family owned for almost 100 years.