Collectables

The latest sale at Clarks in Liskeard included a collection of walking canes collected by the late actor Edward Woodward.

The impressive arms offered in London from a collection which supplied weapons for many films were far from being theatrical props

December 10 marked a significant step in the history of specialist sporting and antique gun auction house Holts (25-20% buyer’s premium).

If proof were needed that firearms sales are simply conducted on a completely different scale in the US, one need look no further than the three-day sale at Rock Island Auctions (18.5% buyer’s premium) in Illinois on December 6-8.

The sale of furniture and decorative arts at Hindman in Chicago on February 11 includes these two late 19th century gadget canes, both mounted with the insignia of British army regiments.

One fascinating section of a recent Thomas Del Mar (25% buyer’s premium) sale featured Stone Age and Viking weapons and artefacts from a European private collection.

The fact that Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) regularly made use of a magnifying glass is noted by biographers and underlined by references found in his letters.

Our regular listing of British and Irish book auctions.

Two spectacular early-19th century British presentation sabres have turned up in the salerooms recently, one in London and the other in Munich.

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).

Pocket guide to pleasure stimulates in Staffs and saucy memoir excites bidders in Yorks.

This watercolour drawing by Charles Addams was one of the more successful lots in a December 10 Illustration Art sale held by Swann Galleries (25/20/10% buyer’s premium) in New York.

‘Long and intensive build-up’ on Facebook brings in younger buyers to one-day event, writes Jeremy Carson.

Among the very earliest printed works sold at auction at the end of last year was a beautifully illuminated Biblia Latina printed in August 1462, just seven years after the great Gutenberg Bible.

Among the more inspired catalogue cover illustrations featured in the end-of-year book auctions was one produced by Bonhams (27.5/25/20/13.9%) for a December 4 sale.

‘Rupert’ is one of the dummy paratroopers which were dropped over German-occupied France in the early hours of June 6, 1944. Made from burlap and weighted with sand, these were intended to serve as a distraction during the D-Day landings.