US

If proof were needed that firearms sales are simply conducted on a completely different scale in the US, one need look no further than the three-day sale at Rock Island Auctions (18.5% buyer’s premium) in Illinois on December 6-8.

This carte de visite picturing the author Mark Twain (Samuel L Clemens) is signed and inscribed twice.

This 13in (32cm) Royal Worcester ewer decorated with owls by Charles Baldwyn (1859-1913) carries an estimate of $950-1050 at Broward Auction Gallery in Dania Beach, Florida.

The Homes & Interiors sale at Bonhams Los Angeles on February 3 includes this Sèvres flower vase or Cuvette à Fleurs Courteille, measuring 10¼in (26cm) wide, estimated at $4000-6000.

The sale of furniture and decorative arts at Hindman in Chicago on February 11 includes these two late 19th century gadget canes, both mounted with the insignia of British army regiments.

The Old Master paintings section of the sale taking place at Doyle in New York on February 5 will include this large and imposing portrait of Pauline Bonaparte, the younger sister of Napoleon.

This watercolour drawing by Charles Addams was one of the more successful lots in a December 10 Illustration Art sale held by Swann Galleries (25/20/10% buyer’s premium) in New York.

Sotheby’s holds the first of its New York series of Old Master paintings and drawings at the end of January with its Masters Week sales running from January 24-31.

‘Rupert’ is one of the dummy paratroopers which were dropped over German-occupied France in the early hours of June 6, 1944. Made from burlap and weighted with sand, these were intended to serve as a distraction during the D-Day landings.

Heritage now conducts a monthly online-only auction titled Fine & Decorative Arts. The February 13 sale includes two typical oil on panel works by the French cat painter Jules Gustave Leroy (1856-1921).

The Design sale at Christie’s New York (25/20% buyer’s premium) on December 13 included the return to the auction room of one of the famous series of electroplated teapots made by James Dixon & Sons, Sheffield, c.1879, to designs by Christopher Dresser.

In late January, New York hosts a clutch of high-calibre dealer events coinciding with the major auctions.

A creamware American-market jug probably made in Liverpool, c.1800, is offered by Pennsylvania dealership Earle D Vandekar of Knightsbridge at the New York Antique Ceramics Fair.

A view from the steps of the 42nd Street New York Public Library completed in 1915 by US artist Jules André Smith is among the highlights at Master Drawings New York.

Games manifesto from 1892 and Audubon’s classic head a selection of money-spinners.