International

This single-sheet letter was written by Catherine de Medici (1519-89) to the ambassador to Spain.

The 'International Exhibition of Modern Art' held at the 69th Regiment Armory building in New York from February 15 to March 15, 1913, ushered in a new era for the art market.

Despite specialising in Modern art, Tommaso Calabro hopes to snag some Old Master collectors at his first TEFAF.

At the peak of his fame, the Anglo-Italian jewellery designer Andrew Grima was invited by Omega to create what would become the About Time collection.

Many late 19th and early 20th century art collectors were entranced by Wilhelm Kuhnert’s (1865-1926) realistic portrayals of exotic animals in the wild.

Soon after the Italian coin engraver Benedetto Pistrucci moved to England in 1815, he received a prestigious task from William Wellesley-Pole, the Master of the Mint. He was commissioned with the creation of a series of new gold coins for George III.

Cologne auction house Lempertz (25% buyer’s premium) opened its auction year with a sale of African and Oceanic works of art in Brussels.

One of the earliest pieces in the auction of works of art at Koller in Zürich on March 21 is a copper and enamel figure of a dove.

In 1903, only one year before his death, Emile Gallé was commissioned by the Belgian company Solvay et Cie with the creation of a bowl to mark the 30th anniversary of its factory in Dombasle.

Paintings by the Anglo-Swiss artist Henry Fuseli, who was born in 1741 as Johann Heinrich Füssli, seldom make it to auction.

Among the technically most complex pieces ever created in the porcelain manufacture in Meissen were the so-called 'Schneeballen-Vasen' (snowball vases).

Italian design is in the spotlight at Quittenbaum in Munich on March 19.

Portrait of monarch impresses as château of the Comtes de Marcellus delivers treasures to auction

An ensemble of modernist rosewood furniture by the designer and architect Pierre Chareau (1883-1950) is to be offered by Valoir Pousse-Cornet auction house.

A Chinese blue and white dish recognised by bidders as a fine example of bleu de Hue porcelain flew to $26,000 (£20,500).

A printing of George Washington’s 1795 Thanksgiving Day proclamation sold way above hopes at Sarasota Estate Auction (23% buyer’s premium) in Florida.

Richard Potter (1783-1835) is considered the first successful stage magician born in the US and African-American celebrity.

Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s offered notable works by French artist Hubert Robert (1733-1808) at the latest Old Master auction series in New York.