Auctions

THIS rare c.1912 Märklin fire engine toy topped the sale of the second part of the Donald Kaufman toy collection at specialist saleroom Bertoia Auctions in Vineland, New Jersey, on September 25-26.

BORN a wealthy European aristocrat and court painter to a Turkish Sultan, the Maltese count Vittorio Amadeo Preziosi (1816-1882) was nevertheless a familiar figure among the back streets of Istanbul.

THE Antiques are Green campaign, launched by Beaconsfield dealer Nigel Worboys earlier this year, is gaining momentum. Now we want as many people to back it as possible.

SCOTTISH auctioneers Loves Auction Rooms of Perth appear to have ceased trading, leaving vendors unpaid.

THIS diminutive table seen at Cambridge auctioneers Cheffins on the second day of their September 23-24 sale was a miniature version of the famous circular expanding dining table designed by Robert Jupe of Welbeck Street, London.

THE first tangible evidence of the new Dreweatt-Bloomsbury alliance will be the two-day preview at Bloomsbury's rooms in Maddox Street for Puritan Values, Designers and Makers 1850-1950, the 400-lot auction of the Anthony Geering collection.

BRINGING bidding from different parts of the world to Mallams latest sale in Oxford, this Chinese jade censer went spectacularly over its £2000-3000 estimate on August 26.

WELL-known Americana dealer Leigh Keno has established a “full-service” auction business in Manhattan.

According to legend, during the English Civil War, a Royalist descendant of Sir Christopher Harris (c.1553-1625) of Radford, Devon, hid the family silver in a cave before fleeing, fearing for his life.

THIS German clockwork tinplate limousine made a surprise £38,000 at Tennants of Leyburn at their latest toy sale.

THIS rare Meissen figure group modelled by J.J. Kandler, titled The Stormy Lovers sold for £26,000 at Paul Beighton's latest sale.

Speculation of financial turmoil at Ritchies continues after the established Toronto auctioneers closed their doors for a fortnight, laying off their entire staff.

A SUBSTANTIAL, and previously unpublished, collection of letters written by various members of the Bloomsbury Group to Helen Anrep (1885-1965) is to be sold by the East Sussex auctioneers Gorringes in Lewes on September 3, along with a collection of artworks by members of the group consigned from the same estate.

THIS portable regulator signed Thwaites and Reed, London sold for £16,500 (plus 19.5 per cent buyer's premium) at Lawrences of Crewkerne, Somerset on July 10.

FOR an item almost destined for a landfill site, this delapidated red leather chesterfield, found in the outhouse of a Northamptonshire rectory, wouldn’t be the first thing you would expect to generate international bidding.

THE former premises of Wolverhampton auctioneer Walker Barnett & Hill have reopened again under new management.

THE so-called Frog Service made by Wedgwood for Catherine the Great was one of the most prestigious creations by the Staffordshire entrepreneur and one that helped forge his international reputation.

This 113/4in (29cm) high slate sculpture titled Maquette for Large Sculpture: Four-Square (Four-Circle) was the first that Penzance auctioneer David Lay had offered for sale.

A MULTITUDE of intriguing items sprung up at Dreweatts' 250-year Anniversary sale at Donnington Priory on July 14-15.

THIS intricate piece of turning and carving is by Binh Pho, widely regarded as the finest woodturner working in the world today. It will be just one of a number of lots created by the cream of the woodturning world being offered at a charity auction on August 7.