Auctions

A rare, early 20th century Fischer tin clown tricycle wind-up toy sold for a premium-inclusive $2300 (£1725) despite not being in working condition.

Not just Harry Potter but also Tolkien and CS Lewis works generate serious demand in US

A rare Royal Crown Derby teapot made to a design created by Salvador Dalí surfaced recently at Batemans (20% buyer’s premium) in Stamford.

Couple of friends amassed extensive collections that led to a book and a major exhibition

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

A new American firm, LCG (Legacy Collectibles Group) Auctions, sold what it described as “the highest graded Cobra Commander GI Joe action figure in existence” in a timed sale last year.

Pedal cars are regular visitors to salerooms but rarer powered versions were also produced for children to use, partly for road safety training

Before the crash of the R101 during its maiden voyage to France in October 1930, there had been great excitement around the potential of the airship.

At the top end of the budget for ski poster enthusiasts are the Art Deco images promoting Gstaad.

Certain areas became hubs for the manufacture of toys, such as Nuremberg and Erzgebirge in Germany.

These days, marketing a doll as Sindy’s saucy sister would be problematic. And the less said about outfits titled Hockey Honey or School Days, the better.

This gouache by Fernand Léger (1881-1955), Les Loisirs, will be one of the highlights of the next sale at Clarke Auction Gallery in Larchmont, New York, on February 6.

Auction figures for firms outside London show a shake-up of the status quo

Found covered in grime in a Portuguese auction house, a three quarter-length portrait of a dark-haired lady by Dutch artist Willem Wissing (1655-1709) has been restored to its former glory by a Belgian dealership and the identity of its sitter revealed as a British aristocrat.

Rare Japanese Meiji gold coin emerges at auction in West Sussex

Fine art dealer Daniel Hunt has launched an auction business opposite his former dealership in Sloane Street.

The so-called Arundel Lions were once a well-known landmark in Sheffield.

A sword sold at Kent auction house C&T (22% buyer’s premium) belonged to a British Antarctic explorer who died in 1912 – but not with Robert Falcon Scott.