Features

In May 1930 Amy Johnson (1903-41) set off in a De Havilland Gipsy Moth called Jason to become the first woman to fly solo from Great Britain to Australia. The feat, followed by further long-distance solo and combined flights, earnt her place in aviation history.

Marriage or betrothal rings of the Byzantine period depict the bride and groom with Christ who performs the marriage rite.

With the discovery of the intact tomb of Tutankhamun in 1923, an Egyptian revival swept through the decorative arts. Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels were among the first to design jewels that mixed Egyptian motifs with the geometry and bold colours of the Art Deco era. But other French, British and US ateliers soon followed.

The Art by Four Women exhibition held at the Walker Gallery, London, in 1935 was something of a break-through event for Birmingham-trained goldsmith Dorrie Nossiter (1893-1977).

Although Roamer fell victim to the ‘quartz crisis’ – the introduction of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s that largely replaced mechanical watches – in the 1950s-60s the firm enjoyed a good reputation as the maker of good-quality, affordable automatic mechanical watches.

A sale of royal memorabilia at Colchester saleroom Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) on February 15 included items from the estate of Miss Beryl Poignand (1887-1965), governess and confidante to HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

The Oysterdate Monte Carlo series were the first chronographs produced by Tudor. A cyclops date magnifier, screw-down pushers and the distinctive dial with angled subsidiaries make them instantly recognisable.

The Omega Seamaster 300, launched in 1957 simultaneously with the Railmaster and the Speedmaster, appears in numerous variations.

Collectors use the name ‘Snowflake’ to refer the range of Tudor Submariners produced from 1969-75.

The jewellery department at Woolley & Wallis has built up something of a reputation for selling cameos and intaglios.

This early medieval gold cross was discovered by a metal detectorist in a field in Sutton St Edmund, Lincolnshire, in April 2019. After two years, going through the Treasure process, the cross was returned to the finder, who is selling it at Dix Noonan Webb on March 15.

Aided by the skills of the Alsatian jeweller Georges-Frédéric Strass (1701-77), the boundaries of what could be achieved with paste jewellery were pushed back in the 18th century.

A locket that tells the story of the brief, and little known, Scottish gold rush of 1869 surfaces in Gloucestershire

The Select Jewellery & Watches sale at Lyon & Turnbull (25/20% buyer’s premium) on March 30 includes a number of pieces by the coterie of artist-craftsmen who led a revival of British jewellery making in the 1960s-70s. Like so much of post-war decorative arts, they have roared back into fashion.

A white agate intaglio carrying the name of a giant of Georgian gem engraving surfaced at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in Wisborough Green, West Sussex, on February 22-24.

The Etruscan, Renaissance and Byzantine revival jewels made by the Civilotti family (Carlo, Antonio and Giuseppe) in Rome are less numerous and less well known than those of the Castellani dynasty.

ATG asked dealers who work in the interiors trade about their recent experience. They reported burgeoning business despite – or, indeed, because of – lockdowns over the past two years.

Just how green is it to buy furniture second hand these days? A new study conducted by Small World Consulting on behalf of ATG parent company Auction Technology Group set out to provide the answer.

Determining when in the past seven decades a genuine Eames classic was made is not an exact science

Greg Penn, 37, better known on Instagram as Man with a Hammer, is carrying out a major renovation of a 30-room former naval residence in Plymouth, doing the vast majority of the work himself and buying furniture online.