London

Sunbury fair debut on London SW19 playing fields draws the Sunday punters after swift launch

Exhibition focuses on photographer famed for his celebrity subjects from musicians to actors

Though the first human in-socket artificial eyes were created by Venetian glassmakers c.16th century, the earliest evidence of ocular prosthesis was found in a female burial plot in Shahr-I Sokhta, Iran – dating back to 2900-2800 BC.

Manuscript was brought to Italy from Constantinople and later printed in Vicenza

Indian miniatures are a common sight at UK auctions. With a keen, dedicated and often very knowledgeable collecting base, they remain a somewhat independent but active sub-set of the art market.

The two-day Hackney Fleamarket is back at Abney Hall on Stoke Newington’s Church Street with all sorts of vintage pieces including lighting (as in this picture below), suitcases, posters, maps, furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery and records.

An unexpected but welcome entry to Bonhams’ latest sale of Fine Books, Atlases, Manuscripts & Historical Photographs was a pair of 17th century linen, leather and black silk shoes.

It is not unusual to see Victoria Crosses making huge sums at auction, but last week the man who made these medals of gallantry was the one in the spotlight.

A drawing by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) sold to a phone bidder for £32,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at Chiswick Auctions last week.

'Firsts, London’s Rare Book Fair' has announced a second digital staging to take place this month.

Mathematical work makes £300,000 in auction where composers also feature heavily

Bernard Shapero of Shapero Rare Books is among the newcomers to the Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair (September 11-13) this year.

According to his family, this French imperial naval eagle was purchased by the dealer Jack Webb (1923-2019) from a ‘totter’ in the early 1970s over the counter at his shop in Camden Passage.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.