Collectables

Running to 600 lots and achieving £560,000 hammer, a recent London sale incorporated a wide range of collecting fields, from Dickensian theatrical ephemera to children’s books and all things Irish.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from April 25 to May 5, 2018.

David R Russell, a colossus among collectors of antique woodworking tools, has died aged 82.

A sale devoted to 700 lots of magic memorabilia is to be held by Potter & Potter Auctions in Chicago on April 28.

Even in the hugely popular world of SAS medal collecting, where extraordinary deeds and great stories are taken as read, every now and again a consignment will come along with that ‘wow’ factor.

Spink specialist observes extra interest ahead of sale marking centenary of RAF’s founding.

Prof Antony Charles Thomas (1928- 2016) may have been a “towering figure in British academic archaeology during the second half of the 20th century” but another area of interest is betrayed by his Who’s Who entry.

Composed to mark the departure from these shores after two years of self-imposed exile in Ireland and England, a Farewell Song of Frederick Douglass, on Quitting England for America – the Land of his Birth was published in London in 1847.

Bought recently for just £70 in a job lot, this German military-issue Leitz lens below sold for £5500 in Special Auction Services (17.5 buyer’s premium) Photographica sale on March 13. The Hektor 13.5cm f/4.5 lens, offered with an estimate of £4000-6000, sold to the European trade.

Rather slimmer than he is seen in the later films that are perhaps his principal memorial, this ink self-portrait by the comedian, juggler and actor WC Fields dates from his earlier, vaudeville years.

The man in the photo clad in armour has the proud but sad and wistful gaze of someone who knows that while he is young in age, he is also part of the old guard. He comes from a disappearing world.

Military badges offered at Bosleys provided a good snapshot of a niche collecting area.

A gripping story which, until recently, has remained shrouded in mystery, provides the backdrop for an intriguing test of the market for SAS medals.

Military issue watches, particular those from the Second World War, are bringing ever stronger prices.