Auctioneers

In the long history of beer, the can is a relative newcomer. The first canned beer came with the end of Prohibition in the US – the shiny new light-weight packaging used by Krueger’s in Richmond, Virgina, to market a pasteurised beverage from January 1935.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Collectors and sellers of antique ivory are being told that the ivory ban is unlikely to become law before spring 2019, a longer lead-time than originally thought.

Winter is putting in an early appearance at Dorotheum in Vienna in the sale of Old Master paintings on October 23 in the shape of a 20in x 2ft 2in (52 x 66cm) oak panel Allegory of Winter, painted by Flemish artist Sebastiaen Vrancx (1573-1647).

Standing proud in full riding wear, this early 20th century portrait of a female rider and her two terriers, below, struck a chord with bidders in Sussex.

The first book printed and published in Antarctica was 'Aurora Australis', a work produced during the 1908-09 Nimrod expedition led by Ernest Shackleton.

Head in his hand and seated on a bucket for his 1941, first annual appearance, Oor Wullie, a favourite character from the Scottish Sunday Post, led the bidding in a September 9 comics sale.

The growing momentum behind at least some Japanese works of art – given Sotheby’s seal of approval with the announcement of its first dedicated sale in 11 years (ATG No 2357) – has been noted at a lower level in provincial rooms for some time.

Pictures, trophies and other mementos were among the contents from a historic nursing home in south-west London dispersed at Ewbank’s (22.5% buyer’s premium).

“Conteyning divers Excellent & Approoved Remedies in Physique – and Chirurgery…”, an early 17th century manuscript of some 130 or so pages that seems to have been intended for publication, brought a much higher than expected bid in a recent London sale.

Two leading regional auction houses – Lyon & Turnbull and Dreweatts – are trying new format sales this autumn in the hope of increasing demand for traditional European art and antiques. Both are creating room sets for viewing works.