International

Scrap of paper came as result of half a manuscript book being chewed into ‘confetti’ by Steinbeck’s dog

The Christmas Rare Books & Collectors sale at Irish auction house Fonsie Mealy on December 12-13 includes No33 of only 150 copies in a limited special edition of Bog Poems by Seamus Heaney illustrated by Barrie Cooke (London, Rainbow Press, 1975).

A fine pair of 18th century English chairs sold for $120,000 (£100,000) in Asheville, North Carolina, on November 16-18.

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) arrived on the Amalfi Coast in 1923 and ultimately created more than 100 works there based on the landscape.

Created in the late 1920s by Spanish aeronautical engineer Juan de la Cierva (1895-1936), the autogiro entered service in the late 1930s.

Catalogued simply as an ‘ornate Chinese plaque’ and estimated at $600-800, a Qing lacquer and porcelain panel hammered for a remarkable $440,000 (£359,000) at Regency Auction House in Rockaway, New Jersey.

The grandnephew of Parisian art and antiquities dealer Ernest Brummer (1891-1964) is parting with this second-century AD Roman marble head of a triton at Hindman in Chicago.

The highly imaginative post-war toys made in Japan for the US market are sought-after lots at auction

Mother-and-daughter team start new event in Ireland with hopes for several others across the island

The first American Civil War playset produced by Marx came in 1958 but in 1961 a real blockbuster version appeared: the Giant Blue and Gray Battle Set.

Eminent artist stepped aside once he saw the monumental figure by younger colleague Maillol

Classical Chinese furniture deaccessioned from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts produced some sensational results at a dedicated Asian Art sale held by Brunk Auctions (23% buyer’s premium) in Asheville, North Carolina on October 19.

This Roman marble bust hammered for $47,500 (£39,100) against an estimate of $2000-3000 at Wiederseim Associates (25% buyer’s premium) in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania on October 20.

Dispersal of renowned collection launches with the first auctions including Aldine ‘crown jewels’

In the Mid-century market, the devil is in the detail.

An ancient Egyptian sculptural fragment was the most eagerly contested lot in Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ (20% buyer’s premium) Autumn Majestic sale on November 10-12.

In September 2020, Soulis Auctions knocked down record prices at a sale of the Richard and Valerie Tucker collection of carnival shooting gallery targets.

Material Culture, Philadelphia specialists in ethnographic art, is selling the Russell S Fling collection of rugs and textiles on December 4.