Auctions

A gold sword that belonged to the bodyguard of Empress Catherine II of Russia is estimated at £40,000-60,000 in Thomas Del Mar’s December 5 Antique Arms, Armour and Militaria sale in West Kensington, London.

This Nathaniel Mills presentation snuff box was given to Isambard K. Brunel and will be included in Jones & Jacob’s sale on December 5 in Watlington, Oxfordshire.

A pair of Queen Victoria’s silk black stockings complete with royal monograms is up for sale at Holloway’s of Banbury on December 4.

A gilt christening cup given by Lawrence of Arabia to the son of the real-life Peter Pan is to be sold at Sworders on December 4.

In December, Wellers’ Guildford saleroom will offer a seminal suite of furniture by Ambrose Heal (1872-1959) consigned by a member of the family who purchased it at the turn of the 20th century.

The toast of November’s clutch of Asian art sales was not to be found in London or Salisbury but in Leyburn.

This Märklin 0 gauge 20 volt electric train is a model of the ‘Earl Marischal’ (no 2002), a LNER P2 Mikado 2-8-2 locomotive built in 1935 to pull passenger trains on the Edinburgh/Aberdeen line.

This carved oak box (with later leather case) is believed to have been the property of the poet Robert Burns and dates from his days as an exciseman.

Hundreds of pieces of manufacturing equipment which have belonged to clockmakers Smith of Derby over the last 100 years are to be sold to make space at their site in Shropshire.

This front-cover artwork board for the ‘Eagle’ will feature in Comic Book Auctions’ online sale which closes on November 27.

This hallmarked silver and ivory oval tray by Asprey of London is a highlight at McTear’s silver auction on November 27 in Glasgow.

Known as specialists in early oak and vernacular works of art, Wilkinson’s will host their next sale on November 25 at The Old Salesroom in Doncaster.

Advertising ephemera from two large collections is on offer at Chippenham Auction Rooms on November 24 in Wiltshire.

It had previously been thought that Daniel Fahrenheit only ever made two of the original mercury thermometers he invented in 1714, both of which are in the collection of the Museum Boerhaave, in Leiden in the Netherlands.

It was the emergence of the very useful but somewhat hazardous ‘strike anywhere’ match in the 1830s that necessitated the fashion for vesta cases.

Wine labels from the old and celebrated Sandeman collection provided 63 lots to Woolley & Wallis’ sale in Salisbury last month.

Scarborough saleroom David Duggleby posted a house record for furniture when a suite of oak Arts and Crafts furniture from the workshop of Cotswold School cabinet maker Peter Waals (1870-1937) sold as a single lot for £31,000 at their latest auction.

The Contemporary art market rose to a new level last week as both Sotheby’s and Christie’s saw record sales in New York.

Modern firsts from the library of Clive Hirschhorn produced plenty of strong and many record prices at Bloomsbury Auctions but a number of significant works did not sell. As such, this was an important sale for illustrating the vagaries of the market.

The wide-ranging McKee Collection of Staffordshire figurines will feature in McAfee Auctions, November 23, in Ballymoney, County Antrim.