US

Rather than the rich and famous it was this photograph of three haggard workers that caught the eye in a Cincinnati saleroom.

Anyone sitting through a slideshow of images from an extraordinary photograph collection of Indian, south-east Asian, and Middle Eastern subjects sold in a US auction could be there for a long time.

Art Deco had a profound influence on all categories – not just art, sculpture or luxury furnishings but also on the design of more utilitarian items.

Although the mid-week sales at US auction house Stair Galleries typically focus on affordable property, there are some exceptions.

Like many scientists and eminent thinkers of the time, Isaac Newton was also a devout Christian who thought deeply about religious matters, as a manuscript sold at auction in New York reveals.

Heritage Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) in Dallas broke the record again for what it terms “the most valuable original work of comic book or fantasy art” during its four-day Comics & Comic Art sale held on June 22-25.

Three auctions follow on from the October series to offer items from the collectors’ Californian residence

Long records of ownership have become one of the crucial factors to get a good result in this market

The first lot in Pook & Pook’s (25% buyer’s premium) May 4-5 sale was also the top result. And if you follow the toy boat market, it was also strangely familiar.

Combining scholarly, decorative and evocative appeal, cameos and intaglios are a highly collectable area of the antiquities market.

A stellar collection of rare Japanese robots and space toys featured in the Milestone (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Willoughby, Ohio.

This massive Japanese silver incense burner weighing over 641 troy oz proved to be one of the major attractions in the silver and vertu sale held by Heritage (25/20/15% buyer’s premium) on May 16.

Pictured here are examples of Georgian silverware coming up in two different auctions that are being staged in Los Angeles in June.

‘Sherlockian scholar’ is the term Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium) uses to describe Robert Hess.

Judging by the overall totals, the latest Modern and Contemporary art auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips in New York were something of a bump back to reality after the last two sales series posted the highest grossing totals on record.

An Egyptian polychrome sarcophagus panel from the Late Dynastic Period was one of the highlight sales at the recent TEFAF New York.

Two of Jane Austen’s works, both from the same Wyoming collector’s estate, were stand-out lots in a May 11 sale held in Chicago.

One of the top-priced lots in a recent sale held by CRN Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 23 was this work on paper by Alexander Calder (1898-1976).