International (print edition)

Many late 19th and early 20th century art collectors were entranced by Wilhelm Kuhnert’s (1865-1926) realistic portrayals of exotic animals in the wild.

Cologne auction house Lempertz (25% buyer’s premium) opened its auction year with a sale of African and Oceanic works of art in Brussels.

Soon after the Italian coin engraver Benedetto Pistrucci moved to England in 1815, he received a prestigious task from William Wellesley-Pole, the Master of the Mint. He was commissioned with the creation of a series of new gold coins for George III.

Among the technically most complex pieces ever created in the porcelain manufacture in Meissen were the so-called 'Schneeballen-Vasen' (snowball vases).

The Barbier-Mueller family is well known as a collecting dynasty, especially for its ethnographic art.

A faience dinner service that belonged to the famous French novelist George Sand sold for €7000 (£5980) at the Rouillac (24% buyer’s premium inc tax) auction on February 10.

Portrait of monarch impresses as château of the Comtes de Marcellus delivers treasures to auction

A Chinese blue and white dish recognised by bidders as a fine example of bleu de Hue porcelain flew to $26,000 (£20,500).

The most eagerly contested lot at the Echoes Antiques & Auction Gallery (23% buyer’s premium) sale on January 23 was a Japanese cloisonné miniature teapot bearing the mark of the great Namikama Yasuyuki.

An ensemble of modernist rosewood furniture by the designer and architect Pierre Chareau (1883-1950) is to be offered by Valoir Pousse-Cornet auction house.

A hunting rifle believed to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte when he ruled as emperor of France led the line at Alexander Historical Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).

A 19th century scrimshaw carved on board a whaling ship with an all African-American crew sold for $7250 (£5700) at Bruneau & Co (20% buyer’s premium).

A Venetian Old Master painting of St Roch attributed to the circle of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696- 1770) awoke from the slumber of a $600-900 estimate to hammer for $75,000 (£59,000).

A small 8in cast bronze relief or architectural element c.1900 designed by Art Nouveau and Art Deco master René Lalique was offered in Florida.

New York auctioneer remembers Ann and Gordon Getty as the latest lots come to market

An 18th century Native American trade axe pipe linked to the great Shawnee chief and warrior Tecumseh (1768-1813) was the runaway performer when the collection of Ohio dealer and entrepreneur Bruce Knight was dispersed in the first days of the New Year.

A staple at American barber shops of the 19th and early 20th centuries was the occupational shaving mug.

Among the most contested lots at Nadeau’s (23% buyer’s premium) sale on January 1 was a set of miniature watercolour and gouache portraits credited to a follower of the German court painter Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553).

An original version of one of the great Art Deco posters emerged at Sapphire Auction Gallery (20% buyer’s premium).

Biennais bronzes portrayed Napoleon and the many family members he appointed to poweful positions