Europe

According to the engraved plaque, this Russian silver cycling trophy, offered by Antiqon (25% buyer’s premium) in Riga, Latvia, on May 18, was presented by Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich to the best cyclist in northern Russia and champion of the Tour of St Michaels.

A world atlas produced by a Dublin-born man who is considered the first US commercial publisher made its way to the Irish capital to be sold at auction house Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium).

The Memphis Miliano design movement was born on the evening of December 11, 1980, when architect-designer Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) invited young creators and architects to discuss the future of Italian ‘post-modern’ design.

Although the image may be familiar from stereoscopic photographs and engravings of the period, this view of the 1862 'London International Exhibition of Industry and Art' is an oil and canvas by the Italian painter Federico Moja (1802-85).

Stand-out lots from upcoming sales including Chardin still-life, Napoleonic marshal's baton and fine art collection acquired over decades

This wreath of helichrysum (immortelle or everlasting) flowers was apparently sent to Napoleon on St Helena as a token of support from two of his sympathisers in London.

Focus on first part of a series of porcelain sales offering businessman’s collection

Annual specialist extravaganza held in Paris involves galleries, auction houses and museums

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.

Remarkably, although a very successful and popular artist, no accounts of the work of the Georgian caricaturist James Gillray (1756-1815) were published in England during his lifetime.

Two quite different pieces of glass designed by Dino Martens (1894-1970) led the April 23 sale at Aste di Antiquariato Boetto (25% buyer’s premium) in Genoa.

A classic of the large blue and white forms of Yuan dynasty porcelain comes to auction in Spain

Current collecting taste means that Old Master paintings exploring the darker side of the human character can often find more admirers than more typical subject matter of Georgian gentleman or European landscapes. Works of the grotesque are particularly popular.

The sale at Hargesheimer (28% buyer’s premium) on April 18 included an outstanding Russian icon and oklad by Orest Kurlyukov.

A picture by the artist dubbed ‘the Irish Alfred Wallis’ soared above estimate to bring a record at Dublin saleroom Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium).