Collectables

Ahead of a very busy period for the trade, we kick off our guide to the events coming up with a London fair marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.

Gustave Vichy was born in 1839 to a Parisian watch and clock maker Antoine Michel who, along with his wife, set up the Vichy company in 1862 with the aim of building and selling clocks, mechanical objects and toys.

The association of native American and Scottish Highlander advertising figures with tobacconists began in England and Holland in the 17th century and later spread to America.

An early 19th century wooden peg doll featuring the original costume of a straw bonnet and cream silk dress with a mother of pearl belt, and red leather shoes, has sold for £3000 to a UK collector.

Callum White, a young book collector from Birmingham, won last year’s ABA National Book Collecting Prize awarded in December for his collection Splitting the world: The atomic scientists and their second acts. He told ATG about his background, how he started the collection and his plans for it

Ian Fleming’s scions will be at Firsts London book fair this year, as they continue to play an important part in both promoting their relative’s books and book collecting as a whole.

Back in October 2024 Lewes saleroom Wallis & Wallis made what was thought to be a record price for Scalextric, taking £7750 for a C70 Type 59 Bugatti.

London dealer William Cook is marking the 250th anniversary of American independence by flying the flag at Petworth Park Antiques & Art Fair (running from May 8-10).

Cathedrals, palaces and abbeys were also among the sights featured as British tourism developed

Two choice British documents emerged across two different sales at Amherst, New Hampshire firm RR Auction (25% buyer’s premium).

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

While many people have a decided aversion to pigeons, this did not apply to the bidders at Kiefer (25% buyer’s premium) in Pforzheim, Germany.

Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African, tells the remarkable story of an African born on a British slave ship who earned a place among the London elite.

Visitors to the PBFA’s two-day spring event once again proved they come to buy not just browse

An item of great interest for me was the small pocket knife that was recently sold together with its own story from the Titanic disaster* [see Previews, ATG No 2739].

A rare vinyl and rubber Supersol monster toy seized top-lot status with its vivid blue-green vinyl claws at a recent sale at Landry Pop Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) in Lambertville, New Jersey.

Two years after a Wiltshire auction house set a record for Titanic memorabilia with ‘the watch recovered from the body of John Jacob Astor’ at £900,000, another timekeeper making precisely the same claim has sold in Chicago for $800,000 (£592,000).

The first Australian sporting team to tour internationally included players Johnny Mullagh (traditional name Unaarrimin), Harry Bullocky (Bullchanach), Dick-a-Dick (Jungunjinanuke), Johnny Cuzens (Zellanach) and Twopenny (Murrumgunarriman).