Auctioneers

An instantly recognisable William Russell Flint (1880-1969) watercolour drew a strenuous competition at Mallams in Oxford last week.

A rare late-18th century George Adams Junior combined planetarium and tellurian that sold at Bonhams includes a reference to the ‘Georgian Planet’ engraved on the top plate. Today that planet is better known as Uranus, which was first observed by William Herschel on March 13, 1781, although he initially recorded it as a comet.

Most fine art sales at Exeter saleroom Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood feature multiple works by the irrepressible Robert Lenkiewicz (1941-2002) and their latest event was no different.

James II large silver chinoiserie footed salver, the circular top flat-chased with a continuous border of four Oriental figures, two long-legged birds and further birds in flight among palm trees and other foliage, beneath sunrays emerging from clouds and further clouds. London 1688 by Benjamin Yate (maker`s mark YT), diameter approx 131/2in (34.3cm). Estimate £30,000-50,000. Sold for £30,000 hammer at Tooveys of Washington, West Sussex, May 21, 2014.

6in (15cm) long Chinese white jade carving of a Buddhist lion dog, Qianlong 1736-95, with a paper label for Queen Amelia of Portugal Collection. Estimate £30,000-50,000. Sold for £110,000 hammer at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury, May 21, 2014

There was no slowing down in the Contemporary art market as the latest sales in New York posted a record for any auction series.

Mossgreen will be offering one of the most talked about items of the year at their forthcoming sale in Melbourne. The auction will feature this elaborately carved and inlaid cradle made for Princess Helena, Queen Victoria’s fifth child.

Leonard Joel of Melbourne will be marking the 50th anniversary of the Beatles arriving to tour Australia by offering a collection of photographs taken of the group in Adelaide.

Thomas del Mar’s second sale of items from the John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection on May 7 included a number of related items, such as this 3ft 7in (1.1m) high panted limestone carving of St Eligius or Eloi, patron saint of horses and farriers.

Christie’s posted a record total for any auction ever with a $745m (£462.7m) premium-inclusive total at their evening sale of post-war and Contemporary art in New York last night (Tuesday, May 13). It now begs the question: how much further can this boom keep going?

It was sovereign territory at Baldwin’s once more earlier this month when they took £430,000 for an Edward VIII gold proof example dated 1937 and £320,000 for an Elizabeth II example dated 1953.

The protagonists in the battle over the future of Sotheby’s have called a truce, with both sides conceding points.

A reported increase in Asian buying was the most notable feature of a somewhat underwhelming series of Impressionist & Modern art auctions in New York last week.

In a series of sales to be spread over the coming years, Cologne auctioneers Lempertz are selling netsuke from the Kolodotschko collection.

Designed and manufactured by the Siemens factory in Woolwich from 1929, the 200 Series dial telephone (aka the Neophone) is today considered an Art Deco design classic and the first truly modern telephone.

A trial model of a champion dog led the way among a group of Beswick figures sold at a recent auction in Stoke-on-Trent.

Alasdair Nichol, picture specialist and vice chairman at Freeman’s of Philadelphia, called the Horst collection “an auctioneer’s perfect storm” – the sale of a previously unknown cache of untouched European and American art exposed to market for the first time in close to a century.

Did a diminutive fruitwood carving sold by Knowle Auction Rooms relate to one of the most tumultuous periods of British history – the Act of the Supremacy under Henry VIII?

The run on pearls continues with two spectacular prices paid for exceptional natural saltwater gems at auctions on either side of the Atlantic this week.

The latest Asian art sale at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet was led by this massive 9½in (24.5cm) high Chinese calligrapher’s brush pot dating to the late 18th or early 19th century.