Auction Reports

Made by Paul Storr, highly decorative and from the family collection of the late Sir Nicholas Harington, this 1836 piece of silver had the name, the look and the provenance to overcome the somewhat unfashionable nature of inkstands.

Latest in a number of outstanding pieces of English furniture to surface and succeed at provincial auctions was this pair of satinwood inlaid demi-lune card tables, above, offered at Stride & Son (20% buyer’s premium including VAT) at Chichester on March 31.

Catch of the day at Cockermouth auctioneers Mitchells’ (20% buyer’s premium) sporting sale on April 8 was a cast of a salmon. The 48lb fish, cast by Mallochs of Perth, was estimated at £1800-2000 but was reeled in by a Scottish enthusiast at £5200.

Symbols of good fortune and longevity in both China and Japan, cranes cast in bronze with incised decoration were simply catalogued as oriental at the April 10 sale held by Edinburgh auction house Thomson Roddick (16% buyer’s premium).

Not so much in demand as they once were, Royal Doulton figurines still have their devoted following, particularly when they are rarities such as the Lady Jester (HN1222) piece offered at Michael J Bowman (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Chudleigh on March 25.

Overshadowed by the boom in Chinese works and contemporary art they may have been, but the rise in demand for British studio ceramics has been the talk of the market these last few years.

Victorian exuberance or Georgian elegance – you pays your money and takes your choice. At Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) on April 5, it cost a great deal for the former and rather less for the latter.

Confirmation of market tastes in horology could be gleaned from major spring sales in the provinces...

A record sale total, the trade in buying mood and traditional furniture selling well – all further evidence that 2017 so far is proving rather less catastrophic than some had forecast.

Decorative furniture from the 19th century was in keen demand at Guernsey auctioneers Martel Maides (17.5% buyer’s premium) on March 15-16 including a pair of satinwood demi lune commodes.

A rare version of one of the most popular of Beswick farm figures, a shire horse in a piebald gloss finish, pulled its weight at The Auction Centre (16% buyer’s premium) in Runcorn on March 18.

Tangible mementos of the dark years of 1940-45 were offered at a St Peter Port sale held by Martel Maides (17.5% buyer’s premium) on March 15-16.

With the major names of the pioneers beyond the purses of most admirers of Cotswolds School furniture, works by Sir Gordon Russell are steady sellers and 16 pieces offered at Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) all found buyers on March 16.

At the end of an article penned for the Regional History Society titled Furniture Terminology in Post-Medieval Middle Class Inventories, the late Victor Chinnery wrote that any full glossary on the subject should include, not just furniture, but also pottery, glass, metalwork and architectural fittings.

It may have been under 2in (5cm) high, but a tiny ink drawing by Aubrey Beardsley sold for a sizeable $10,000 (£8000) in a sale of Illustration Art held by Swann (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in New York on March 21.

Among the most eagerly contested sections of the Bonhams sale was the 22 lots from the Golding Barrett Collection.

Calculations and notes predicting the orbit of what at the time was a newly discovered and very large asteroid, Juno, brought a bid of £7000 at Bonhams (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on March 1.

Shown here is one of 25 coloured litho plates that illustrate Sir Charles Doyly’s Views of Calcutta and its Environs, a large folio work published in 1848.

Filling much of a full-page advertisement in ATG No 2284 for the Pierre Bergé/Sotheby’s (24/20.5/17% buyer’s premium) sale in Paris on April 26 of books and manuscripts from the library of Jean A Bonna was the star turn – a stunning copy of Galileo’s Discorsi et Dimostrazioni matematiche of 1638.

For many centuries the German city of Nuremberg was a major centre for glass decoration.