Auctions

Wirral-born photographer John Deakin (1912-72) is best-known for his uncompromisingly honest portraits of the Soho art scene of the 1950s and 60s.

A flintlock duck gun hailed as exceptional by Olympia Auctions fully lived up to its billing when it shot past an estimate of £60,000-80,000 to hammer down at £380,000 on June 26.

On the market for the first time in over half a century, a Roman marble copy of the Crouching Venus hammered at $130,000 (£103,000) in the Freeman’s Hindman (27/21/15% buyer’s premium) auction on May 23.

Highlights from the London Jewels sale at Bonhams on June 13

‘Charming’ view by the Cornish artist lacking his usual dominant figures takes top spot in Penzance sale

“You were the only person who ever succeeded in teaching me mathematics or indeed - let me add - in making me work at anything that did not excite my interest. I regard my work at mathematics under your care as the most salutary mental discipline I ever received.”

Fabergé’s rock crystal, platinum, silver and diamond ‘ice flower’ jewels were made by the workmaster Albert Holmström, c.1913-14, after designs made by his niece Alma Pihl (1888-1976).

The Dreweatts (26% buyer’s premium) sale on June 18 included two Cartier brooches commissioned by Sir Stephen Courtauld to designs inspired by Eltham Palace.

Although the designer and silversmith are unknown, this silver snake jug forms part of the group of trompe l’oeil objects produced during the 1870s-80s by the Gorham factory in Providence, Rhode Island.

In a private collection since it was last sold in 1991, one of only two known autograph manuscripts by author and journalist Albert Camus of his masterpiece L’Etranger was sold by Tajan (23/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Paris on June 5.

Serpenti jewels, which followed the launch of Bulgari’s signature gold Tubogas bracelets in the late 1940s, were featured in Vogue and other fashion magazines on countless occasions in the Sixties.

Two days needed to disperse items collected over generations thanks to biscuit production success

Over 100 patents for mechanical apple parers were granted in the US between 1850-90.

Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was one of 20th century USA’s most prominent architects, inventors and designers.

Watch chatelaine offered at auction was produced by a man who created many works for the Hanoverian household

Concept Art Gallery (22% buyer’s premium) in Pittsburgh enjoyed a sensational result at a recent sale.

The Rare Books sale at Ketterer Kunst (25/20/19% buyer’s premium) in Hamburg on May 27 included this first edition dedication copy of Das Kapital (1867).

With very few exceptions, the French artist Victor Philippe Lemoine-Benoit (active 1831-50) devoted almost all of his painting career to one subject: hot-air balloons of the type made famous by the Montgolfier brothers in the late 18th century.