Auction Reports

The familiar heart symbol - that today is ‘read’ as love - made its first appearance as a rebus in the late Medieval era.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) took great delight in making cameo appearances in the films he produced and directed.

This 8in (19cm) high vase may belong to a select group of Ming cloisonné enamel vases dating to the Xuande period (1426-35).

A Rolex used by Spanish sailor and scientist Vital Alsar Ramirez (1933-2020) during his Amazon and Atlantic expeditions in 1977 sold for £10,000 at Halls (24% buyer’s premium).

Giles Grendey (1696-1780) was a well known English cabinetmaker with a workshop in Clerkenwell, a member of the Joiners company rising to Master.

This stained glass panel painted with two female nudes against a watery background flanked by the words 'FAR' and 'END' to the sides and 'SALVE' at the bottom was keenly pursued at Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) in Cheshire on February 28.

This large rectangular earthenware trough, measuring 20in (21cm) across the handles, is part of the range of flower containers made by the Fulham Pottery for the society florist Constance Spry (1886-1960) from the mid-1930s to the 1950s.

The latest edition of The Oak Interior auction held by Bishop & Miller (25% buyer’s premium) in Stowmarket on February 28-29 majored heavily on metalwork.

Three-hundred lot sale of the Art Deco classic shows signs of the market returning to 1990s boom time

The Clarice Cliff, Art Deco & Design auction at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on March 20 included this rare 10in (25cm) vase, shape no 375, decorated in the Archaic pattern mirroring a capital design from a temple in Luxor.

Two sales of the classic furniture include items featuring direct family history

“He stored everything like Russian dolls, everything packed away into something else."

An auction house has existed in the Dore & Rees premises, a Victorian gothic building on Vicarage Street, Frome, since 1868.

It may have been catalogued as requiring restoration but a “scarce” 19th century Korean helmet still managed to sell for 82 times its low estimate at Hansons (26% buyer’s premium).

A professional diver snapped up a up a vintage US Navy diving helmet that surfaced in the middle of the English countryside.

In 1969 the Rolling Stones were ready to go touring again after a gap of more than two years. Featuring a new guitarist, the 17-date tour in the US began on November 7.

Ceramics historian cited this item to show how two types of decoration were used in combination

A football medal sold at a Cheshire auction house was so early in date that it was only the 13th time the FA Cup final had been contested, the game was played at Kennington Oval and the opposition was a Scottish team.

When it comes to period costume antique footwear can often command some of the strongest prices.

What Special Auction Services (20% buyer’s premium) in Newbury billed as “the largest and most valuable doll collection to been seen at auction for 25 years” went under the hammer on February 22 with a further slice to come in April.