Auctioneers

A collector’s cabinet sold by Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on June 30-July 1 was from a small group of furnishings fashioned from the Waterloo Elm.

Original copper printing plates for works by famous artists do not appear often at auction, and rarely does a private collection come for sale.

Paintings of elegantly attired female figures hold a special place in the oeuvre of the Scottish Colourist Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell (1883-1937).

When a Philadelphia family consigned Europa, a 1927 painting by Czech Modernist Josef Šíma (1891-1971), to Freeman’s (28/21% buyer’s premium) last year, it prompted scholars and art historians to do a double take.

Thomas Annan’s famous book is now rated as ‘one of the finest photographic works of the 19th century’

While cats might occasionally be seen prowling round a skip, it’s much rarer to spot a painting in such a location by, yes you guessed it, the feline fan’s favourite Louis Wain (1860-1939).

A typically enigmatic portrait by Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1890-1978) attracted interest at a recent sale at Lawrences (25 buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne in Somerset.

In 1862, just a year after the founding of the Morris, Marshall & Faulkner Company at Red Lion Square, a circular was sent to prospective clients to announce the ‘revival of the art of painting on china tiles’.

A pair of William De Morgan ruby lustre four tile panels depicting galleons in full sail with fish swimming in sea sold for a top estimate £6000 at Martel Maides (20% buyer’s premium) in St Peter Port, Guernsey.

Two small single-owner collections of Martin Brothers stoneware were offered in June: one at Catherine Southon (27.6% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Chislehurst, Kent, on June 17, the other as part of the Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) June 25 sale in Sherborne, Dorset.

A remarkable George II giltwood and marble side table sold for £90,000 at Sworders on June 23.