Collectables

“Bradshaw becomes first-hand for any sort of railway guide – you can argue whether or not he was the very first to create them, but he was the first to be successful. It is a bit like everyone calling vacuum cleaners Hoovers.”

This lithographic poster design of Titanic and Olympic, c.1910-11, was withdrawn after the disaster of 1912 so there are only a handful in existence today. They would have been used in travel agents and White Star Line offices to advertise the liners.

Boxes such as these fashioned and painted as cottages are among the most desirable of all 19th century caddies and boxes.

This c.1905 leather top hat ‘bucket’ by the prestigious hatters Johnson and Co of Regent Street, London.

MADAM – There is absolutely nothing that is not collected by some bloke, in some shed, somewhere.

An early 19th century campaign chest designed to be broken down into two parts for easier travel has been hailed as “exceptional” by the specialist dealer who bought it at an Essex auction.

Motor cars became more affordable and reliable particularly in the 1920s-30s, making day trips increasingly popular.

In the campaign furniture market, provenance and an interesting story behind the owner are important.

What could be more British than a policeman in traditional garb standing on Tower Bridge?

Highly influential three-volume set on maths takes a record £90,000 sum in London

After 60 years in an attic, an extremely rare battery-operated Machine Man robot with its original box rolled into the spotlight at Morphy in Denver, Pennsylvania.

It was not in the best of conditions, but an unusual cartographic lot in an August 6 sale at Thomson Roddick (17.5% buyer’s premium) of Carlisle sold at £420.

Florence Nightingale was a name that figured prominently among the 130 lots of books and ephemera offered as part of a September 2 sale in Shrewsbury.

A collection of bicycles spanning a century from 1892-1982, Tour de France jerseys and other sporting memorabilia will be offered for sale by Ivoire Chartres in the French city on October 17.

A small group of Victorian transfer-printed stoneware crocks offered by Taylor’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Montrose on September 16 included a 7½in (18cm) butter crock with the logo of the Lothians Dairy Co of Slate Ford Road, Edinburgh.

This pastoral scene titled 'Where is this bower beside the silver Thames?' features on a poster to promote the London Underground by the well-known French Art Deco artist Jean Dupas.

Essex saleroom disperses superb pipe collection amassed over more than 50 years.