Auctioneers

Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African, tells the remarkable story of an African born on a British slave ship who earned a place among the London elite.

An item of great interest for me was the small pocket knife that was recently sold together with its own story from the Titanic disaster* [see Previews, ATG No 2739].

A pair of Edwardian wine and water ewers by London silversmith Sydney Bellamy Harman, 1910, tied for the most-expensive lot at a recent Doyle (28% buyer’s premium) auction.

Two years after a Wiltshire auction house set a record for Titanic memorabilia with ‘the watch recovered from the body of John Jacob Astor’ at £900,000, another timekeeper making precisely the same claim has sold in Chicago for $800,000 (£592,000).

The latest Design Since 1860 sale at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh was topped by four Morris & Co tile panels depicting the Labours of the Months dated to c.1865.

The first Australian sporting team to tour internationally included players Johnny Mullagh (traditional name Unaarrimin), Harry Bullocky (Bullchanach), Dick-a-Dick (Jungunjinanuke), Johnny Cuzens (Zellanach) and Twopenny (Murrumgunarriman).

As a dealer, collector and enthusiast of ethnographic art, Gordon Reece spent a lifetime travelling the globe in search of artefacts.

As vintage wristwatches continue to dominate the watch market, finding interesting examples at reasonable prices has become a challenge. However, opportunities are out there

Among the most intriguing naïve pictures sold recently was a simple and ostensibly unassuming painting of a ship offered at a recent Dominic Winter (22% buyer’s premium) auction.

Railtons [auction house] received this heavy and rather grubby Victorian marble bust just as our end of March catalogue was going to press.

The London watch and clock maker Brounker Watts (c.1670-1717), an apprentice to Joseph Knibb, became a member of the Clockmakers Company in 1697.

The global market for natural history books is alive and well as demonstrated by the 326-lot sale dubbed Natural History: the remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk 1899-2026 at Forum Auctions (27/26% buyer’s premium).

Flightless bird walks away with a new owner as silver novelty rarities catch the eye at Kinghams

Though sourced separately, the two best-selling furniture lots at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Art & Interiors sale in Lewes were both products of colonial India.

What to buy the auctioneer who has it all?