Auctioneers

The random selection of a place in the line is one of the long-established rituals of English driven game shooting and novel methods continue to emerge.

Baker rifle stands out in Kent saleroom.

Two iconic Colt pistols were the big money-earners from both sides of the Atlantic in the pre-Christmas arms and armour sales.

Such was the demand for suits of armour from late 19th and early 20th century collectors that European master armourers were kept hard at work long after the practical need for such protective wear had passed.

This Victorian dirk – with ensuite knife and fork – sold for 10 times the top estimate, £2000, at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow on January 21.

Simple, undated note by the Beethoven bought for $220,000 at Heritage auction by a big fan

Sold for €160,000 (£144,145) was a letter sent by Félix Régamy to his brother Frédéric including a drawing of Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine in England.

Three recent appointments at auction houses in the US

Boss over-and-under guns from the golden age of London gunmaking have long ranked among the most sought by game shots.

The two-day sale at Sworders at the end of last year included a couple of notable Continental works that drew considerable competition.

Signed by the author and all members of the cast, the stage manager and the props manager, a 1943, Heinemann first of 'Present Laughter' was one of two Noel Coward plays that made up a lot sold for £1600 via thesaleroom.com in a Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) auction.

Theodolite and telescope made to high standards measure up in two salerooms

Running to 600 lots, a sale held by Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) included a great many maps and prints alongside books.

At Bonhams in London this single-barrelled 28-bore made in 1877 for one of the sons of Prince Duleep Singh reached £20,000.

The Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) two-day Jewellery, Watches and Silver sale in Oxford included some exceptional silver lots.

A ‘Hunger Strike’ Women’s Social and Political Union Medal awarded to a Suffragette who threw at lump of iron at Winston Churchill’s car made £10,000.

Provenance can count for a lot when it comes to gun collecting and two names with quite different connotations came up at Holts (25/20% buyer’s premium).

In the spring of 1826, artist Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-28) arrived in Milan with his companion and patron Charles Rivet.

On February 25 Doyle in New York will be selling the single-owner Joseph and Miriam Poser Collection of English and American silver card and vesta cases.