Auctioneers

Brought into a West Sussex saleroom some months ago, a manuscript grimoire, or collection of magic spells, invocations and more practical advice on ailments and aspirations, offered quite a challenge to the cataloguer.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Headlines about antiquities today usually follow two paths: either highlighting the issue of looting or focusing on the huge sums treasures of the ancient world can command.

A classical marble bust took an unexpected £129,000 at Sheffield Auction Gallery on September 21.

If the work of the best modern and contemporary artists is typically confined to a small coterie of London auctioneers, then the same cannot be said of the best modern and contemporary ceramics.

Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury will sell an important oil by Chinese contemporary artist Yang Fei Yun (b.1954) next month. It comes for sale from the charity established by Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick (1942-2007).

The biannual world tour of tribal lands – Alaska to New Zealand via Arizona, Africa and Taiwan – organised by auctioneer Will Hobbs at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) offered a global view of what is an active, if often unpredictable, field.

Striking depiction of Folies Bergère entertainer is among eclectic selection offered in Sussex.

Types of the Indian Army… of 1897 is a photographically illustrated oblong folio work from which the mounted carbon print shown below, one of 60 in all, is taken.

Landmark prices were paid for rare large-denomination English coins when Mayfair coin dealership Sovereign Rarities conducted its first auction on September 25.

The pair to the famous ‘Bainbridge vase’ sold in Hong Kong on October 3 for HK$130m (£12.75m) plus premium. Five bidders competed for the lot.