Print Edition

Sphairistike, an ancient Greek term meaning skill in playing at ball, was the name Major Walter Wingfield chose for the game he patented and first advertised early in 1874.

“Germany calling, Germany calling” were the chilling opening words spoken by the upper-class British accent of William Joyce – Lord Haw Haw – and other presenters in propaganda radio broadcasts from Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

Dealers and collectors who last week brought a judicial review of the Ivory Act 2018 must wait until November for judgment in the case.

The earliest days of Tottenham Hotspur FC are revealed in a remarkable hand-written ledger coming up at auction in a November 4-5 London sale.

A large collection of Rockingham porcelain will be on display at Wentworth Woodhouse next month ahead of its sale at auction. The Rowley collection, numbering 120 lots, was assembled by a collector hailing from Sprotborough, Doncaster, who now lives in Buckinghamshire.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period October 10-16, 2019. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

Cubist work by often-overlooked artist fuels keen bidding before heading to California.

Diaries, journals and letters kept by Lady Anne Cullum (1807-95) of Hardwick House, near Bury St Edmunds, sold for a total of around £8000 in a recent East Anglian auction.

The history of Satsuma wares, among the most recognised and profitable export products of the Meiji period, is interwoven with the opening up of Japan after centuries of isolation.

MADAM – You very kindly published a letter from me last year (ATG No 2339) regarding my search for the whereabouts of the three remaining Troika pottery bowls of fruit.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales for £3000 or under, including a Francis Bacon lithograph.

Bernard Quaritch marked the opening of its Bedford Row premises last week with a red velvet cake in the shape of the new shop.

On Friday, October 18, Michael Bloomstein of Brighton was paying the following for bulk scrap against a gold fix of: $1487.05 / €1333.27 / £1154.15

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859- 1930), author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was so keen to work during his extensive travels that in 1925 he commissioned a case-maker to create a trunk that transformed into a writing desk.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Every year Asian Art in London presents two awards for the most outstanding work of art: one for an item offered by a dealer, the other for a work offered by an auction house. The awards are co-sponsored by Antiques Trade Gazette and Apollo magazine.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including an export block for a Joseph Wright of Derby.

Two modestly estimated watercolours by the Victorian ornithological painter Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935) emerged as the star sellers in an auction in South Yorkshire.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.