Auction Reports

A group of medals awarded to a First World War ‘Tommy’ sold for a mid-estimate £2400 at Kent auction house C&T (22% buyer’s premium) on October 20-21. Not that unusual, it would seem.

Appeal of Weston Hall contents particularly enhanced by 20th century occupants

London auction offers fascinating bronzes from a little-appreciated collecting field.

In the collectable ceramics market colour can count for a lot.

This late 18th century Channel Islands silver coffee pot has marks for the Jersey silversmith Jacques Quesnel I.

This large-scale model of a late 19th century Australian stamp mill is signed for the Ivanhoe Gold Corporation Foundry.

The Anglo-Croatian sculptor Oscar Nemon (1906-85) first met Sir Winston Churchill when holidaying in Marrakech in 1951.

Research shed light on the ‘Chelsea toys’ made by the mysterious ‘Girl on a Swing’ factory.

If you ever encounter the pub quiz question ‘who is the smallest footballer ever to represent England at a senior level’ just remember an FA Cup winner’s medal sold at sporting specialist auction house Knights (20% buyer’s premium).

A single-owner collection of 33 sovereigns from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I generated a white-glove result at London auction house Dix Noonan Webb (24% buyer’s premium).

Amassed by the headmaster of one of Britain’s finest public schools, the Silk collection of Staffordshire portrait figures provides a fillip to an overlooked market

The game of golf (originating on the eastern coast of Scotland) and mauchlineware (the name given to a family of wooden souvenirs made in south-west Scotland over a period of a century) would seem ideal bedfellows.

Estimated at £200-300, this kaskara sold for £8200 at Dawsons (23% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead on October 28.

Leering 4ft 7in (1.4m) out from the saleroom wall and with a 4ft 2in (50cm) antlers spread, a massive taxidermy moose head and shoulders was the major trophy at the best-yet biannual Country and Sporting sale at Mitchells (22% buyer’s premium).

Top names in their different fields, ages and markets, Wurlitzer and Armand Marseilles were the star makers at Hartleys (17.5% buyer’s premium).

The Spanish woollen rug illustrated here was pitched at £100-200 in Mallams’ (25% buyer’s premium) Abingdon rooms on October 18.

In demand at home and abroad during his lifetime, the eminent miniaturist John Smart was an international draw at a trio of sales.

The auction at toy specialist C&T (22% buyer’s premium) in Kenardington, Kent, on November 3 included this very rare pair of doll’s shoes dated to c.1700.

Most angles on the collecting spectrum were covered in Bamfords’ (24.75% buyer’s premium) three-day autumnal catalogue.

Anglo-Chinese huanghuali bureau cabinet was spotted just down the road from saleroom