Auctions

An archive of material relating to Porthia Prints, a short-lived company that harnessed the talents of a host of St Ives artists, proved a sell-out success at Lyon & Turnbull’s Modern Made auction in Fitzrovia, London. The 24-lot section of original designs and textiles came for sale ‘from an important St Ives artist’s estate’.

Most regionally made Georgian oak longcase clocks can now be bought for under £500 but this example is by a highly regarded and collectable maker: John Wolley or Woolley (c.1738-95) of Codnor, Derbyshire.

The first incarnation of the porcelain factory in Höchst near Frankfurt existed for exactly half a century. It was founded in 1746, making it the second-oldest producer of porcelain in Germany after Meissen.

Although the catalogue noted the rarity of a Queen Anne silver tazza and tankard having been together for more than 300 years, they were offered separately at Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne.

Hornby Dublo collectors fought spirited battles for clockwork rarities at Duggleby Stephenson’s (18.75% buyer’s premium) York sale.

Instruction from author Fleming was thankfully not followed and first issue survives.

In recent years, Geble (22.61% buyer’s premium) in Radolfzell has sold several paintings by the Singaporean artist Cheong Soo Pieng (1917-83) from a German collection.

Thirty pieces of antiquarian jewellery discovered next to a joint of meat in an old freezer were sold for £68,000 (plus 24% buyer's premum) at Kidson-Trigg near Highworth, Swindon.

Dorotheum (28/25/22/18% buyer’s premium) in Vienna could boast two seven-figure prices in as many days, including the highest Austrian auction price of this year so far.

Although her career as a photographer lasted only some 16 years, Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79) is acknowledged as a pioneer of the medium, creating a remarkable oeuvre of portraits and other photographic compositions.

One of the biggest surprises at Nagel’s (33% buyer’s premium) sale in Stuttgart on October 16-17 came right at the end of the auction.

Appetite remains for biannual specialist auction which is still a stalwart of the calendar.

Robert Hillingford (1826-1904) was a Victorian painter of historical scenes, whose subjects included the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon, as well as scenes taken from Shakespearean plays.

Bringing the highest price yet at one of Richard Edmonds’ (20% buyer’s premium) specialist Petroliana and Automobilia sales in Chippenham was a rare petrol pump globe.

“There is no such thing as modern art, there is only art and it is perpetual.” The author of these lines was, perhaps surprisingly, the highly modern Austrian painter Egon Schiele and are part of an artistic manifesto written on July 17, 1911.

Duke’s latest Asian art sale had been headlined by items from a local resident and well-known auctioneer, academic and collector, Anthony du Boulay. The 249 lots from early classic wares to Cantonese enamels generated plenty of saleroom energy and a total of around £800,000.

The practice of placing a metal mark on a building to indicate insurance against a fire started in earnest after the Great Fire of London (1666). Each insurance company had its own fire service and distinctive logo.

In the resilient Beswick market, collectors paid high prices for some rarities – even modern prototypes – at autumn sales.

The private collection of the late auctioneer Rudolf Neumeister was on offer at the saleroom bearing his name – which is now run by his daughter.

For more than 25 years a regular contributor to BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, John Benjamin recalls his early days in the trade – while reviewing a recent jewellery auction. Additional reporting by Roland Arkell.