Europe

After the difficult years of the pandemic, the organisers of the Bamberger Antiquitätenwochen are hoping that this year’s event will mark a return to some form of normality.

Ketterer’s (25/20% buyer’s premium) recent evening sale in Munich got off to a perfect start.

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 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 TEFAF Maastricht fair opened with a raft of high-value sales last week.

Asian art ‘circus’ moves to French capital for dealer shows and auctions in early June

A Picasso drawing found in a cupboard has been sold at a French auction house for €158,000 (£135,000) or €192,759 including buyer’s premium.

The Chaworth Roll, a 14th century genealogy of the kings of England that includes the second-earliest recorded road map of the country, is on offer at TEFAF Maastricht this week.

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.

This Italian maiolica plate painted with a profile portrait of man and an inscribed scrolling ribbon comes from Deruta and dates from the early 16th century.

Museums and collectors were not deterred by the Paris event’s date being pushed back.

Flagship art fair TEFAF Maastricht has a later date than before as it returns to being an in-person event this year.

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.

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

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