Auctions

The British and US postal clerks aboard transatlantic liners had the duty of sorting the mail during the passage.

A faience dinner service that belonged to the famous French novelist George Sand sold for €7000 (£5980) at the Rouillac (24% buyer’s premium inc tax) auction on February 10.

The Barbier-Mueller family is well known as a collecting dynasty, especially for its ethnographic art.

Lalique, the epitome of inter-war glamour, took centre stage at the Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) Design sale.

Market shows strength only for select works as sourcing high-quality material proves inceasingly difficult

The most eagerly contested lot at the Echoes Antiques & Auction Gallery (23% buyer’s premium) sale on January 23 was a Japanese cloisonné miniature teapot bearing the mark of the great Namikama Yasuyuki.

The murder of William Weare in the Hertfordshire village of Radlett in 1823 has been called the first trial by newspaper. It was also the first subject in the ‘crime and punishment’ series of earthenwares that proved curiously popular in the Victorian era.

With clients including the Maharajah of Kutch, Queen Victoria and multiple princes and dukes, Holmes & Co was one of the top coachbuilders of the 19th century.

Estimated at £14,000-18,000, this Pavillon d'Or issued by Edward, Prince of Aquitaine (1362-72), took £36,000 plus 18% buyer’s premium at Harmers on November 1.

Spink’s April 13 banknotes sale included a near-complete run of Malaya & British Borneo Elizabeth II specimen notes issued in the coronation year on March 21, 1953.

The 1705 silver crown is one of the key rarities in the Queen Anne (1702-14) series.

Core group of 14 works by the artist on offer could represent significant moment in secondary market

Once considered to be the refuge of geeky teenagers, fantasy and sci-fi role playing and tabletop gaming is now hugely popular, with various celebs keen to proclaim their passion for all things orc and elf.