Bristol

Bristol auction house sells mirror with an intriguing link to Marie Antoinette

Always popular at auction, always great to write about – so no excuses needed for featuring a selection of the weird and wonderful Second World War spy and sabotage gadgets and ingenious escape devices which do appear often in sales.

Offered as part of a sale held in Bristol were two copies of 'The Merchants Avizo….', a work by a local man, John Browne.

A collection of more than 580 figures representing participants in the 1903 Delhi Durbar comprises the bulk of this month’s exhibition at Bristol jeweller Grey-Harris & Co.

Consigned from a private deceased estate, a group of decorative mosaic floor tile fragments took a multi-estimate £2200 at Clevedon Salerooms (22% buyer’s premium) in Bristol.

Estimated at just £30-50, a late 19th century sampler sold via thesaleroom.com for £1850 at Wotton Auction Rooms (18% buyer’s premium) in Gloucestershire. A clue to the appeal is the inscription 'M Mountain, 5 Orphan House, Ashley Down, Bristol, 1879'.

The simple pair of leather football boots on offer at East Bristol Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium) this summer was not as flash as today’s examples in all colours and emblazoned with all kinds of branding and personalised messages.

It’s admittedly not much to look at and just 2 x 3½in (5 x 8.5cm), but if you are a Star Wars collector this badge on offer estimated at £4000-6000 at East Bristol Auctions on July 24 means a great deal.

A letter in which Kenneth Grahame writes about the suicide of his son, Alastair, sold at East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) for £1200.

'Still Life with Red Chrysanthemums' is among the works featured at The Fosse Gallery in Stow on the Wold as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. It was painted by Bristol artist Karen Edwards, a regular exhibitor at the now historic gallery.

An American collector bought this original Second World War RAF ensign flag at a recent East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).

A rare ‘pocket watch’ sold by East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) was more surveillance device than timekeeper.

One of the highlights of actor Peter Wyngarde’s estate sale held live, online-only at East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) was a Beatles concert poster from 1963.

This flag offered at East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) carries inscriptions for HMS Swiftsure – British Pacific Fleet – 1945, and the Japanese cities Sasebo and Tokyo.

The second Bristol Vintage Photograph Fair due to be held on Easter Sunday, April 12, at The Royal Photograph Society’s headquarters in the city has been cancelled.

The limited, but international, appeal of a remarkable collection of about 350 Victorian hand-painted glass eyes was clear at East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).