UK

It’s not every day you see an auctioneer holding a 5ft 6in (1.67m) long sperm whale penis. Then again, it’s not every day that you see the sort of lots that are offered in Sworders’ Out of the Ordinary auction.

After re-booting the moribund firm of Hutchinson Scott (20% buyer’s premium) in 2016, former dealers Michael Scott and Paul Hodson have now bought their premises at Embsay Mill at Skipton.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from February 19-March 3, 2019.

Given a surprising £200-300 estimate, a George IV brass and glass carriage clock was one of the stars of McTear’s (23% buyer’s premium) Glasgow sale on February 1.

It is a quarter of a century since ATG’s first overview of London’s numismatic auction market. Here we review the heads and the tails of 2018.

That rare beast – a good old-fashioned single-owner sale – is a format that seldom fails to produce decent results.

ATG’s selection of 11 coins and medals lots that were among the highlights sold at UK auctions in 2018.

A painting by one of Picasso’s mistresses drew considerable interest at Halls (20% buyer’s premium) of Shrewsbury on February 6.

Drawn from sales held in the last days of January in the UK and US, an artistic device of framing a view with trees in the foreground is demonstrated in the two plates reproduced below.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

A former cake factory site near Southport is the base for dealer Brett Griffiths, who is also one of the big fans of IACF’s fairs.

Sworders offers late 19th and 20th century styles reflecting the period zeitgeist.

A selection of toys and games at the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair proves that antique playthings have their place as both decorative items and collectors’ pieces.

Kate Lee started the popular biannual antiques street market in the Suffolk town of Beccles 10 years ago and has now taken over a local monthly antiques and collectors’ fair.

Two fine examples of scrimshaw were eagerly contested at the David Duggleby (21% buyer’s premium inc VAT) Scarborough auction of maritime antiques and instruments.

More than 40 top dealers will set out their vetted stands at the annual long-running Wilton House Art and Antiques Fair.

'Portrait of a Woman in a Hat' by the Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson (1874-1961) is among the 71 drawings and watercolours currently on show at Mayfair art gallery Browse & Darby.

As featured on the cover of ATG No 2377, more treasures associated with the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, Tipu Sultan, are scheduled for auction in March at the Antony Cribb sale.