Pick of the Week

It may be strange and surreal, but John Spencer-Churchill’s (1909-92) landscape panorama of the evacuation of Dunkirk is the only depiction of the event known to have been painted by an eyewitness.

This 17th century Indian painting attributed to one of the best artists of the Mughal court sold for £42,000 at Sworders’ December 5 Country House Sale.

This enamel copy of Hans Holbein’s Whitehall mural portrait is by William Bone Senior (1792-1846) – second-generation member of the Bone dynasty of miniaturists and enamellists.

A William Nicholson (1872-1949) portrait drew admirers at Thomas R Callan (17.5% buyer’s premium) on November 19 as it was hammered down for £150,000.

One of the most comprehensive and best-preserved football memorabilia collections auctioneer Graham Budd (17.5% buyer’s premium) has ever handled netted a hammer total of £107,000 for a remarkable 47 lots including medals and caps on November 14-15.

The name on the frame was the name of the game at Charles Miller’s November 7 auction in west London where a “rather tired and dirty” sextant sold for £28,000.

A collection of tobacco leaf pattern Chinese export porcelain surpassed all expectations to sell for a combined £116,000 at Mallams Cheltenham (20% buyer’s premium).

The large pockets once inserted at the side of this leather armchair – now sealed up – give a clue to the role of the famous person who once sat on it. The chair’s nickname of ‘The Emma’ is another big hint.

The presence of two Turkish gentlemen at the Objects of Desire sale at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet on October 18 had raised a few eyebrows – if only because they appeared singularly disinterested in the contents of this ‘handbags and gladrags’ sale.

A double-sided drawing by Alberto Giacometti of his classic elongated head and figure designs has been sold at auction in Cambridge for £130,000.

Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire sold a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period dish for £230,000 (plus premium) on September 29.

Maltese furniture commands a premium – and not simply because it appeals to a committed group of island collectors.

This late 19th century necklace offered by Peter Wilson's latest sale in Nantwich is a spectacular example of Grand Tour jewellery. Most Georgian or Victorian gentlemen keen to display an appreciation of classical art were satisfied to purchase just one or two hardstone intaglios as a souvenir.

Shortly after the catalogue for Bellmans’ recent sale in Wisborough Green, Sussex had gone to press, a printed paper label was noticed to the underside of this burr-veneered occasional table. It read 'L Pearson, Cabinet Maker & Upholsterer, 3 Elizabeth Street, Hobart Town'.

Fieldings of Stourbridge set a new house record earlier this month when Emanuele Caroni’s (1826-76) marble sculpture of cupid taming the lion sold at £91,000 (plus 24% premium).

It is well-known that the market for Royal Doulton HN series figures is at something of a low ebb. However, the exception to the general rule of bargain-basement prices comes for the small number of very rare figures that appeal to a core collecting base. Many end up in North America.

Large-scale paintings of intimate domestic scenes are unusual in Chinese art. The Chinese export reverse-painted glass painting of a young mother nursing her infant son offered at Northeast Auctions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, earlier this month is thought to be one of only a handful of full-size versions painted of this once popular image.

The highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s sale of Scottish Silver & Applied Arts on August 16 was a Jacobite drinking glass with a difference.

The Doccia factory is perhaps best known for its hard-paste sculptures – many of them near-direct copies in porcelain of 17th and early 18th century bronzes. The key figure is the talented modeller Gaspero Bruschi, himself a Florentine sculptor.

Triple lens or Triunial magic lanterns were the iPhone 8 of their day. Since the days of the Sturm lantern in the 17th century, the technology had developed from basic projectors producing small, dimly lit images, to these magnificent machines capable of spectacular technicolour lantern entertainments.