Auctions

Just as rich Europeans coveted Chinese porcelain and lacquer in the 18th and 19th century, so the Chinese were fascinated by Western horology.

ATG’s pick of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com, featuring both the highest prices over-estimate and the top prices paid online.

This North West Mounted Police hat badge caught the attention when Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (25% buyer’s premium) of Exeter sold the remaining personal effects of Canadian soldier and policeman Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele KCMG CB MVO (1848-1919) on March 19.

Our selection of lots from 13 upcoming auctions.

Two prominent single-owner collections put together into a single Town & Country sale at Dreweatts generated some decent if selective bidding when it came to the pictures on offer.

Among six-figure successes in the medals market, last year Spink sold the ‘Operation Chastise’ Distinguished Flying Cross group of five given to Dambuster Flt Lt Edward ‘Johnnie’ Johnson for £105,000.

With space and privacy at a premium on board ships, sailors used ditty boxes to store their most treasured possessions plus personal necessities and everyday items such as sewing kit.

This large rectangular earthenware trough, measuring 20in (21cm) across the handles, is part of the range of flower containers made by the Fulham Pottery for the society florist Constance Spry (1886-1960) from the mid-1930s to the 1950s.

Alexander Calder (1898-1976) first produced designs for tapestries made at the Aubusson factory in the early 1960s.

The latest edition of The Oak Interior auction held by Bishop & Miller (25% buyer’s premium) in Stowmarket on February 28-29 majored heavily on metalwork.

A relatively early work by the Indian post-war painter Krishen Khanna (b.1925) hammered for $116,000 (£90,500) against an estimate of $4000-8000 at Taurus Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).

Chocolate moulds do not get much better than the two ‘showpiece’ models offered for sale at Leonard Auction in Addison, Illinois, on March 24.

Three-hundred lot sale of the Art Deco classic shows signs of the market returning to 1990s boom time

The Clarice Cliff, Art Deco & Design auction at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on March 20 included this rare 10in (25cm) vase, shape no 375, decorated in the Archaic pattern mirroring a capital design from a temple in Luxor.

Seventeenth century map of Bermondsey area reveals garden suburb character in a pre-industrial age

Mayfair auction house builds on an excellent performance last year with stand-out results at the start of 2024

The Germans began firing V1 flying bombs at Britain in June 1944 and V2 rockets followed that September.

It’s wise to keep a lid on estimates for traditional pictures where condition and market freshness is lacking

Doulton washroom elements provide surprise as final items from extensive collection come to auction