Collectables

A Chinese works of art sale held by Christie’s on June 18 included a set of S.W. Bushell’s Oriental Ceramic Art illustrated by Examples from the Collection of W.T. Walters, published in 10 volumes in 1897 and illustrated with 116 chromos by Louis Prang after J & J.C. Callowhill.

“Up above the streets and houses, Rainbow climbing high...”. Down the Old Brompton Road in Christie’s salerooms on July 11, veteran fans of the 1970/80s psychedelic children’s TV programme Rainbow had good reason to croon the immortal lyrics of their favourite theme tune.

TOP LOT in this comparatively modest sale of Continental books and manuscripts at Sothebys on June 11, at £52,000 to a European dealer, was an autograph manuscript of one of Goethe’s more celebrated poems, Sehnsucht, (Longing) dated to c.1802-03.

The Zurich firm Numismatica Ars Classica (NAC) are opening an office in London. Negotiations for a Crown lease on prestigious premises in Waterloo Place (SW1) are well under way although they have suffered a slight setback which I understand will be resolved in the very near future. An autumn opening is planned.

Frontline forgery: LETTERS home during WW2 were extremely important to soldiers on the front. Each soldier was issued a quota of stamps which were specially overprinted to validate their posting from a specific location.

This month has seen a crop of antique arms and armour offered in the London rooms with Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams all holding sales in July. Pictured here is the most expensive item of the summer series, a rare cased Colt belt revolver of c.1840, which made £200,000 at Bonhams’ (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) sale in their Bond Street rooms on July 24.

The Free Society of Traders in Pennsilvania (sic) was chartered in England by William Penn as proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania, in March 1682, a few months before his departure to America.

USA: A stage designer for the Ballets Russes, advertising artist, painter and book illustrator, Alexander Alexeieff, is probably best known for his animated cartoons, but in two posters that he designed for LNER he produced surreal images that were unlike anything previously seen on a train poster.

USA: Next week in an extraordinary single-lot auction – and the first joint sale between Sotheby’s.com and eBay, this 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coin is to be offered for sale by Sotheby’s and New York coin auctioneer Stack’s on behalf of the US government.

Certainly the most expensive Coronelli globe ever sold, and quite possibly the costliest single globe of any kind at auction*, this 3ft 61/2in (1.08m) diameter terrestrial globe of 1688 was sold for £210,000 to a collector as part of a July 10 Cartography sale held by Christie’s.

Specialist items, including a collection of five nut crackers and novelty silver entries, encouraged buyers to travel to Herefordshire to bid in this 1080-lot sale at Brightwells on 11 June, which was 70 per cent sold by lot.

After 236 years of auctioning wine in London and other international centres, Christie’s will be holding their inaugural sale of fine wines in Paris on September 14.

This 415-lot sale of advertising material was one of the South Yorkshire auctioneers’ BBR's most varied of its kind to date. It ranged from four-figure rarities and pieces of museum interest through favourites like Guinness material down to affordable collectables to bring a total of £45,730.

Ever since Sotheby’s first Rock sale in 1981, Beatle material has been on a roll. Beatle memorabilia is the undisputed market leader in this field and this autographed copy of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album sleeve, 1967, received top billing at Sotheby’s Olympia (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) 337-lot Rock/Fashion sale on June 14. This privately consigned entry was taken to £34,000 against a £6000-8000 estimate, by a private US buyer on the telephone.

USA: ENJOY a scary new exhibition running at Posteritati Movie Posters until September 8 at their galleries at 241 Centre Street, New York City, between SoHo and Little Italy.

The World Cup may have come to a disappointing close for English fans, but sporting enthusiasts can now look forward to a summer of Wimbledon and cricket Test matches.

Sotheby’s announcement of the discovery of a cache of Nelson memorabilia that has been hidden away for almost 200 years has generated huge media interest.

It is believed that only two copies of Johann Simon Kerner’s Le Raisin, ses espèces et variétées… were completed, but then this German botanist did make it hard work for himself in choosing to illustrate it with original watercolours.

Stones’ Pocket Guide to Tea Caddies, by Noel Riley, published by June and Tony Stone Antique Boxes, PO Box 106, Peacehaven, East Sussex BN10 8AU. £12.50 to include p&p. Tel: 01273 579333 email: rachel@boxes.co.uk www.boxes.co.uk

Medieval illuminated manuscripts are hardly two a penny but religious works such as bibles and books of hours are much more frequently encountered than secular ones.