North America

A more recent purchase for the Starrs was this late-18th century, 10¼in (26cm) high, black basalt two handled amphora, from the section of encaustic-decorated wares that were inspired by classical attic vases.

Another of the highest prices in the Stair Galleries’ sale of a New York ceramics collection came for this Staffordshire rarity.

Plenty of affordable Wedgwood from all eras was available in the Stair sale.

High selling rates at two American salerooms show how the market can absorb traditional ceramics in volume when estimates are realistic

Early-18th century porcelain scent bottles from Chelsea and the St James’s factory have been the object of increasing interest and value in recent years. Some high-flying examples emerged in the sales in New York.

Original watercolours intended for pioneering, unpublished work are now highly valued

A selection of maps of US cities from recent auctions stateside.

Featured here are three photographic carte de visite portraits of American interest from an historical manuscripts and documents sale held in Dallas by Heritage (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium).

The most expensive piece in Sotheby’s Arnhold sale was a lot that made a dramatic increase on its $4000-6000 estimate. This 7½in (19.5cm) diameter blue and white saucer dish (below) was an early example of blue and white Meissen from c.1721-22 that had Japanese Palace inventory marks.

The Starrs collection at Sotheby’s featured 25 reticulated vases or decorative objects produced by George Owen for Royal Worcester, most them purchased at auction in the early 1980s.

Sporting a distinctive hairstyle and beard that the cataloguer suggested “…would never again be replicated until early 21st-century Brooklyn”, the photograph below was part of a slavery and abolition-themed lot sold for $80,000 (£64,725) in an Americana sale held in New York by Swann (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on September 25.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

The November 18 sale titled California Jewelry held by Doyle New York on the West Coast includes a group of French Art Nouveau pieces described as ‘Property from an Important Jewel Collector’. Several display the plique-à-jour (‘letting in daylight’) enamelling technique revived in the late 19th century.

Musket that fired the first shot in 1775 American revolution battle appears in US saleroom.

Going to the Fields by the Cezch artist Joža Uprka (1861-1940) is one of the potential best-sellers of Bonhams’ sale of 19th century European paintings in New York on November 20.

A number of Russian icons are included in Crescent City Auction Gallery’s sale on November 16-17 in New Orleans, among them this 19th century Virgin of Kazan.

This small-scale wall mirror by Line Vautrin from c.1950 measures approximately 15in (38cm) in diameter.