Metalware

Almost wholly reliant on slavery, the tobacco industry was the subtle target of British Abolitionists 50 years before Britain outlawed slavery and nearly a century before the American Civil War.

On May 17, Cologne auction house Lempertz is selling 115 bronze mortars from the 8th-18th centuries.

English and Continental porcelain from several notable estates is included in Stair Galleries’ next fine sale in Hudson, New York, on April 27-28.

This exceptional candlestick belongs to a small group of cast and enamelled brass wares made in the second half of the 17th century. All are distinguished by their method of production: unlike champlévé or cloisonné decoration, the enamelled fields were cast in the mould.

A set of four Cotswold School Arts & Crafts wall sconces, one shown below, was catalogued by Moore Allen & Innocent (20% buyer’s premium) as in the Wild Strawberry pattern and in the manner of Ernest Gimson (1864-1919).

Topped by the 17th century Dutch bottles at £30,000 (see ATG No 2375), the year’s first sale at Hannam’s (23% buyer’s premium) had other treasures among the 2000 lots including the French bronze figural torchères, right.

The bronze pieces produced by Rene Lalique are perhaps less well-known than the master’s jewellery and glass but seldom so under-rated that they are consigned to the dustbin, as was the case with this c.1910 hand mirror, below.

The only known item of silverware to have survived from a lavish diplomatic gift presented to Louis XIV by the King of Siam has been acquired by the Palace of Versailles via a private treaty sale through auction firm Beaussant Lefèvre.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

This pair of ormolu candlesticks by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) will feature in the May 24 auction at Duran Subastas in Madrid.

A late 19th century Art Nouveau centrepiece is one of the highlights at Quittenbaum’s Munich sale on May 15.

Held in Staffordshire this Saturday (July 15) is the annual Old Hall Collectors’ Club Fair.

Among the most eagerly contested sections of the Bonhams sale was the 22 lots from the Golding Barrett Collection.