Auctions

‘Substantial’ was certainly the description to use when it came to an archive related to the Barrington family of Beckett Hall, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire.

While auction prices for works of art from Japan can scarcely compete with those achieved for pieces from China, the sale at Hargesheimer (28% buyer’s premium) in Düsseldorf on November 30 showed that there is still a healthy market for netsuke.

Latest ceramics sales demonstrate how Martinware demand has moved on beyond Wally Birds

In the early years of the HN collection in the 1920s several companies commissioned Doulton figures to advertise their products.

Freddie Mercury mania in 2023 was not confined to Sotheby’s in London.

Printing of abolitionist Douglass’ famous speech on a ‘rich inheritance’ not shared takes nearly $70,000

Sending the old year out with a bang, a George III brass mortar by Jan Verbruggen took £49,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at Sworders.

Among the star attractions at the 60-lot evening sale of works from the collection of Hubert Guerrand-Hermès (1940-2016) at Sotheby’s Paris was a carved and regilded Louis XVI chair.

A white marble sculpture of a young man holding what appears to be a cricket ball flew away from its estimate to bring $30,000 (£23,700) at Andrew Jones (25% buyer’s premium).

A still-life by Sir William Nicholson (1872-1949) that appeared in the final sale of the year at Olympia Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) “generated ripples of excitement among private collectors and the trade alike” according to the West London saleroom.

The Christmas Gifts sale at TW Gaze in Diss included a rare example of 18th century Catholic colonial jewellery: a Mexican 'escudo de monja' or nun’s badge.

Rembrandt prints were a prominent feature of the London Old Master sales in December.

Very few English Golden Age clocks signed by Ambrose Gardner are recorded.

The Komai family of sword makers and armourers were among the many Japanese metalworkers courting a new clientele during the Meiji period (1868-1912).

Single-owner collection forms biggest dispersal of mustard pots at auction for many years

Quirky subjects generate the most eye-catching results at the latest Old Master auction series

One of the Old Masters attracting significant interest at Lyon & Turnbull’s (25/20% buyer’s premium) latest Five Centuries sale in Edinburgh was a small still-life that drew strong competition against a £5000-8000 estimate.

Bidder in Massachusetts goes to £24,000 to secure an account of a 1764 trip along the eastern seaboard

The handstitched booklet titled Balls & My Partners, 1844-1845 was written by Adelaide Horatia Elizabeth Seymour (1825-77) as she enjoyed the life of a debutante.