Bonhams

The most unusual armour lot to emerge in recent sales was the late 16th century German brass parade cuirass which made £86,000 at Thomas Del Mar (20% buyer’s premium) in London on December 8.

Superb set of the Dickens classic was painstakingly assembled as originally issued

A Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund sword of £100 value took the honours at a Bonhams’ (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) sale of arms and armour.

There are only three other known examples of this early David Hockney (b.1937) etching titled 'Self-Portrait (not in S.A.C. or Tokyo)'.

The full fall-out from the record-breaking Dr John P Driscoll sale of British studio ceramics is yet to be understood.

Trademark colourful picture features people depicted with a distinctive style of limbs.

A single-page letter sent on the day before Steve Jobs’ 19th birthday to a close school friend, Tim Brown, sold for $400,000 (£292,825) in New York.

A select 13-lot auction of works from the collection of Amalia de Schulthess at Bonhams (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) in New York on December 7 was led at $8.4m (£6.36m) by a classic René Magritte (1896-1967) Surrealist painting.

While the kilns at Sèvres languished during the Revolution, Napoleon recognised the value of a national porcelain factory and used it as an extension of his power.

British porcelain element of renowned US collection amassed in European salerooms comes to auction in London

The highlight of Bonhams’ Chinese art series conducted in London last week was the sale of the Parry collection of Chinese art.

One of the first sales held by Bonhams (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) in its new Paris rooms was devoted to works by Jean Cocteau (1889- 1963).

Among Gilbert Ledward’s (1880-1960) most admired works is the sensuous nude, 'Awakening' or 'The Awakening', that today stands in Ropers Garden on the Chelsea Embankment.