Auction Reports

South London auction house decided to press pause but was rewarded with a bumper result

It was catalogued as 18th or 19th century but this 2½ x 3½in (6 x 8.5cm) ivory plaque was more probably a product of medieval Christendom.

Two very different Chinese vases took the limelight at a recent sale Fieldings (24% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Stourbridge.

So-called ‘Black Forest’ carvings don’t get much better than this walking stick stand modelled as a seated hound next to a tree stump offered by Hannam’s (23% buyer’s premium) in Selborne, Hampshire.

This George I provincial silver coffee pot c.1720, offered by Elstob & Elstob (22% buyer’s premium) in Ripon on August 20, is a great rarity.

In the hierarchy of Royal Worcester fruit painters Frank Roberts (1857-1920) comes close to the top.

At the very beginning of July, Adam Partridge in Liverpool sold an early 20th century Spode cup and saucer to a highly desirable ‘liner china’ pattern for £8400.

Delay due to lockdown turns out to be a blessing in disguise in terms of consignments

This Gauge II steam-powered locomotive below was made by Schoenner, the Nüremberg toymaker operating founded by Jean Schoenner in 1875.

This 12in (39cm) Portobello pottery plaque piece, c.1820, is a rare piece but one known in a number of different colour variations.

This sailor’s walking cane below displays many elements of the scrimshander’s art: a whalebone shaft carved with spiral fluting, collars inlaid with shell from the hawksbill turtle and a handle carved as a dove from the tooth of a sperm whale.

Once the second city in the kingdom, Norwich had its own silver assay office during three periods between 1565 and 1702.

This 7in (18cm) Satsuma 'koro' is modelled in the form of a 'yoroi bitsu' (Samurai armour storage box) with the 'kabuto' (traditional Japanese helmet) forming the lid.

This Minton majolica figure of a 12in (30cm) dancing bear playing a drum kit carries a patent lozenge for May 1876.

This 17th century teak, ebony and ivory standing cabinet or contador is a type associated with the Indo-Portuguese settlement in Goa.

A pair of Chinese export black lacquer chinoiserie decorated cabinets on stands came for sale at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in Wisborough Green, West Sussex on August 11 with a blue-chip provenance.

Classic Robert Thompson products from family collections underline current keen demand.

The centuries-old Indonesian habit of chewing betel nut, the fruit of the reach palm, was quickly adopted by settlers from the Dutch East India Company who appreciated both its psychoactive properties and its importance as a local social ritual.

The so-called Elcho bayonet was designed for the Martini-Henry rifle in 1870 by Lord Elcho, the 10th Earl of Wemyss & March.

The Robert Thompson firm produced shire horses, such as this example offered by Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on July 23, from the 1960s-90s.