Auctioneers

Demand for Japanese works was first hit by the so-called ‘Lost Decade’ that followed the collapse of the Japanese economy in 1991. However, changes in fashion, taste and legislation have also impacted prices.

Vase is thought to be from a group that share a provenance to the 1908 Japan-British Exhibition

A recent sale at Whittons (21% buyer’s premium) in Honiton, Devon, included this Meiji or Taisho (1912-26) vase by the Ando Company.

Norfolk auction house TW Gaze has secured permission to sell an Edo period ivory netsuke in the spring.

As with any market, the Matchbox collecting scene has ups and downs but recent results suggest significant market strength right now.

Last August, Caitlin Riley, rare book specialist at Bristol and Bath-based Auctioneum, was making headlines around the world.

In 1782, the 20-year-old William Jones published a booklet of which he was the sole author, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery.

A selection of whimsical and distinctive Doulton Lambeth stonewares sold across three auctions in December and January

At the time of his death polar explorer and carpenter Jorgen Stubberud (1883-1980) was the last surviving member of Roald Amundsen’s successful 1910-12 expedition to the South Pole.

This marble sculpture of Napoleon as Caesar is based on a model created by the French neoclassicist Antoine-Denis Chaudet for the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in 1810.

The records for JK Rowling’s early work sold at auction keep tumbling, both hardback and paperback

The highlight of the latest Country House sale held by Duggleby Stephenson (25% buyer’s premium) of York was the part contents of the Kirkham Hall estate in North Yorkshire.

Pitched with an estimate of £2000-3000, a Matchbox bus offered by Oberon (20% buyer’s premium) clearly had something special for collectors to savour.

Some of the rarest coins in world numismatics were sold at auction in New York last week. Auction sessions spanning seven consecutive days (January 12-18) were held as part of the annual New York International Numismatic Convention, the US’s largest and most prestigious numismatic event known as NYINC.