Auctions

In 1953 Pan Am Airlines approached Rolex with a request for a watch that could show the time simultaneously in two different time zones.

“A masterpiece of Flemish book illumination,” said Reiss & Sohn (18% buyer’s premium) of a rare manuscript compendium of texts on chivalry, heraldry, nobility and the rules of war offered in its May 16-18 sales series.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period June 1-7, 2017. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

Figural clocks combining novelty and automaton features were very popular in the 19th century, many of them being of French manufacture.

Spring sale results provide promising upturn as Irish art market shows signs of recovery.

Bid to a double-estimate €42,000 (£36,290) in a Ketterer Kunst (20% buyer’s premium) sale of May 22 was a very rare, 1566-67 Lisbon first of 'Chronica da felicissimo rei dom Emanuel…'

The Malayan artist Cheong Soo Pieng (1917-83) is hardly a household name in Europe. Virtually all of his paintings that have sold at auction in recent decades came under the hammer in Hong Kong or Singapore.

Readers old enough to remember using one at school may also recall Sam Cooke’s 1960 song in which he lamented “don’t know what a slide rule is for”. Today, few teenagers would know what one was.

A major work by French academy painter Edouard Joseph Dantan (1846-97), unseen for over a century, has emerged at an auction in Colchester.

Not all the clocks that go under the hammer feature in dedicated horological sales. Pictured here is a selection of some recent highlights at Sotheby's auctions from mixed-discipline sales.

Established in London in 1735, jeweller Garrard has had a long association with the British Royal family.

The three lots briefly described here were not among the very highest priced lots in a Forum Auctions (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) sale of May 24 – but all brought record bids.

MADAM - I would like to offer an alternative point of view to that of Jenny Fisher, head of modern and contemporary art at Dreweatts, which recently sold a sculpture by my father, John Skeaping.

ATG's special report on horological highlights with superb examples of modern craftsmanship, auction previews and results, and the world of wall clocks described by expert Edward Burd...

Conscious that Art Nouveau Daum glassware has been bringing renewed interest of late, auctioneer Catrin Hampton was quickly in touch with potential buyers – particularly Americans – when a table lamp was brought into the Cheltenham rooms of Chorley’s (20% buyer’s premium).

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

For the serious collector of vintage Rolex Submariner wristwatches, the devil is in the dial detail. Dial variations found in this watch model were produced in low numbers and are therefore highly sought after.

Guns made for the hands of an illustrious owner have added allure for collectors of antique firearms – particularly if those hands are royal.

The appeal of this 16in (40.5cm) tall French silvered bronze of a ballerina offered at Wotton Auction Rooms (21% buyer’s premium) on May 23, undoubtedly owed much of its success to its provenance.

Mirroring Whyte’s recent auction and its own Irish sale back in April, de Veres’ top performer on May 21 was another work by William Scott.