Auctions

A Dutch travelogue from the early years of Arctic exploration sold for £44,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at Chiswick Auctions on October 26.

In colonial Mexico cacao beans and vanilla pods assumed a similar status to tea leaves in England.

Documents were consigned among contents of a house owned by the Arkwright family

Estimated at £600-800, a 1777 first in marbled board covers of John Chapman and Peter Andre’s 'Map of the County of Essex from an Actual Survey' was sold for what would appear to be an auction record.

Despite their sterling service with the Allies, a large number of Polish soldiers could not return home when the fighting ended, as a fascinating archive reveals.

Lt William Emlyn Hardwick (1885-1918) was born in Brecon but by the time he enlisted to fight in the First World War he was living in Australia.

A selection of Doulton HN series rarities sold at three regional salerooms this month.

The vast majority of Mauchline items seen today are engraved transfer-printed wares or other types of ‘fancy Scotch woodwork’ from the Victorian era such as fernware or tartanware.

Highest price in five years is achieved for Manchester School and Staithes Group artist

Stroud Auction Rooms’ sale on November 9-10 will feature over 1000 lots of guns, weapons, medals and militaria, including two notable collections.

Ceramics by Hans Coper (1920-81) and Lucie Rie (1902-95) have been assimilated into the collecting sphere of Modern British art with spectacular effect.

The cylindrical brush pot or bitong appears to have been introduced into the repertoire of Chinese ceramic forms in the late 1620s.

A group of father-and-son lots related to the Royal Navy may have been small in size but revealed a combined service in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars that was lengthy.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Judging by recent events, members of the Conservative Party might well look back longingly to the days of Margaret Thatcher when Britain’s first female prime minister brought a comparative measure of stability to government.

'Paris Photo', the French capital’s annual fair dedicated to photography, holds its 25th edition at the Grand Palais Ephémère from November 10-13.

Air Commander J Searby had a key role to play in the Peenemunde Raid targeting the V weapons factory during the night of the August 17-18, 1943, as part of the RAF’s elite Path Finder Force.

A single-owner collection of watches assembled over many decades and spanning 500 years of horology was offered by Aguttes (25/23% buyer’s premium) in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris.

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.