Auctioneers

Closing the year in some style, a patinated and parcel gilt bronze ‘double size’ figure of St George set a new auction record for Sir Alfred Gilbert (1854-1934) at Bonhams.

A handwritten account of the battle of Rorke’s Drift by Lt John Chard of the Royal Engineers, who led the renowned stand against the Zulu attack, sold for a hammer price of £140,000.

The surprise lot at Thomson Roddick (18% buyer’s premium) was one in which the principal attraction may well have been a penny broadside of 1826.

The name William Beilby (1740-1819) is typically associated with the best of English glass and particularly the enamelling workshop operated from Amen Corner in Newcastle in the 1760s-70s.

Bid to a record £1900 in a Norfolk auction was a 1905, two-volume first of 'My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions'.

Tennants’ (20% buyer’s premium) Autumn Fine Sale in Leyburn was topped by a pair of verre eglomisé pictures by Jonas Zeuner (1727-1814).

Shown here is the opening spread of a special copy of an 1895 Dent edition of 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' sold at Lyon & Turnbull (25/20% buyer’s premium).

Once dismissed as a mere Hans Coper follower, the studio potter is now in rising demand

Two Diego Giacometti (1902-85) bronze tables from an ‘important collection’ in Sydney appeared in a Paris auction after being consigned via an Australian saleroom.

Cologne auction house offers fine selection of 18th century works made by both father and son

A recent fine art auction at Hansons (25% buyer’s premium) included a once magnificent Qianlong (1735-99) copper-red and underglaze blue lantern vase.

Petrol-themed enamel signs do not get much better than that made to promote British Dominions Empire Motor Insurance in c.1912.

Collection offered in Canterbury recalls the bizarre family life of Stanley Spencer

A 1633 first edition of Christopher Marlowe’s 'The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta' was a highlight at Swann Galleries (25/20/12% buyer’s premium).

Among the successful lots in a History of Science & Technology sale held by Bonhams Los Angeles (27.5/25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) was a group of five signed and inscribed offprints from periodical publications of papers and other work by the logician, mathematician and analytic philosopher, Kurt Gödel.

Our regular selection of previews from UK and Irish salerooms.