Decorative Art

Bidders backing their judgment sent two lots to 20-times estimates at Mallams’ (25% buyer’s premium) jewellery and silver sale

Here we speak to dealer John Howard who specialises in British pottery.

The potent mix of China, horseracing and the 1851 Great Exhibition yielded a strong price for this splendid ‘export’ silver trophy at auction.

Marked for Savage & Lyman, Montreal, c.1855-60, this silver tankard was awarded to British bare-knuckle boxer Tom Sayers.

Halls (23% buyer’s premium) offered the Enid and Bruce Moulder collection of toy teawares via a timed online auction that closed on November 23.

The recent release of 'The Electrical Life of Louis Wain' starring Benedict Cumberbatch provided a topical spin to this rare Amphora pottery model.

A rare Royal Crown Derby teapot made to a design created by Salvador Dalí surfaced recently at Batemans (20% buyer’s premium) in Stamford.

Couple of friends amassed extensive collections that led to a book and a major exhibition

The first half of a single-owner collection of more than 100 works by British studio potter Waistel Cooper (1921-2003) is on offer at the Fine Art Society.

The scene on this 19in (43cm) Yongzheng famille rose dish depicts the Daoist immortal Magu on her way to celebrate the famous peach banquet of the Queen Mother of the West, Xi Wang Mu, who rules over the garden of the peaches of longevity.

Christopher Dresser created a number of daring geometric designs for silver and silver-plated toast racks in the late 1870s and early 1880s, both for Hukin & Heath and for James Dixon & Son.

Decorative dealer Barney James of The Home Bothy stands at the Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in Battersea from January 25-30.

Gallery hopes single-owner collection shows will boost profile of a prodigious talent

Multi-estimate bidding is no longer just the preserve of Chinese works of art. During the recent Asian art sales, Vietnamese market objects excelled.

Brass and steel ‘combination’ or ‘puzzle’ boxes enjoyed a vogue in the late 18th and 19th centuries.

Eight frost fairs were held on the Thames between 1607-1814, taking advantage of the firm ice that formed on the river as it flowed slowly in the shallows near the old London Bridge.

New online databases for extensive archive material of two core disciplines in the antiques trade have been launched.

Rarely do 19th century Staffordshire figures feature among the top-selling lots at auction these days but two bare-fist boxing champions did just that.

In natural light this English ‘black glass’ onion form wine bottle appears distinctly blue.