Auctioneers

Serendipity had it that two of the so-called Wilton Marbles, formerly in the celebrated collection of the Earls of Pembroke at Wilton House in Salisbury, appeared for sale within a week.

The two opening lots of Chorley’s Modern Art & Design sale on June 2 were a walnut and ebony secretaire cabinet and a dresser designed and made by Arts & Crafts titan Sidney Barnsley (1865-1926).

The latest round of art auctions in Ireland showed a marked buoyancy with totals and selling rates up on recent years.

The French sculptor Paul Comolera (1818-1897) first appears in the Minton records in October 1873 and is listed until 1876. During this short time, he created some of Minton’s greatest models of animals which were often observed from life.

Pelé’s Brazil 1958 match-worn World Cup final shirt is up for auction with an estimate ‘in excess of $6m’.

This early 20th century Russian silver and cloisonné enamel pill box measuring just 1½in (3.5cm) across bears marks for Fabergé and Feodor Ruckert (1840-1917).

West Sussex firm has made the trunks something of a speciality after four five-figure sales in a decade

The Japanese netsuke carver Naito Toyomasa (1773-1856) was renowned for his miniature portrayals of animals in a distinctive, highly detailed style.

Henry Piddington (1797-1858) was an English sea captain who sailed mostly in East India and China.

In 1934, a meeting of two great modern painters took place in Bern. One of them was the Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who had left Germany shortly before the end of the First World War.

Both the first and the first trade editions of A Room of One’s Own (1929) were among a collection of eight Virginia Woolf lots included in the April 16 Rare Books, Autographs, & Maps auction at Doyle (28% buyer’s premium) in New York.

An “exceedingly uncommon” signed and inscribed photograph of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) earned top-lot honours in an Autographs sale held at Swann.

Collectors are looking for lesser-known artists beyond the top targets in a notably strong market

This 10½in (26cm) high Meiji period cloisonné vase from the workshop of Namikawa Sosuke came for sale at Olympia Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) on May 6 with a primary provenance.

This Carless, Capel and Leonard London forecourt oil dispenser cabinet rubbed bidders up the right way at The Aladdin’s Garage: A Private Collection of Petroliana, Automobilia and Advertising Signs sale.

A true connoisseur’s collection of early silver greeted those who viewed the Woolley & Wallis (27/26% buyer’s premium) Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu sale in Salisbury on April 28-29.

As pre-sale Instagram posts go, the promo for the auction at Martel Maides (20% buyer’s premium) in St Peter Port, Guernsey, on May 1 was inspired.

The Dunhill ‘Unique’ B lighter, along with its smaller-sized sibling, was introduced into the firm’s line in the late 1920s.

Book owner’s son realised the impact this landmark work would have