Ewbank's

A collection of diamond jewellery attracted international competition at Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19.5% buyer’s premium) June sale in Taunton. The cache of pre-war jewels was consigned following a house call by gemmologist and valuer Richard Slater. “It was a wonderful selection of jewellery. The owner had great taste,” he said.

Bearing a thumbprint on the title-page – along with a note by a secretary, Susan Macey, witnessing it as genuine – a 1988 UK edition of Stephen Hawking’s A Brief of History of Time… was estimated at £200-400 but sold for £3000 in a May 30 sale.

After almost 50 years on public display in the silver galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a James I silver shell-form spice or sugar box was offered for sale at Salisbury saleroom Woolley & Wallis.

This trio of clocks – all classic collectors’ pieces – went well above estimate at spring sales.

When it comes to early or vintage photographs the interest is often centred around the social history of the material – the camera’s ability to document past events, be they special occasions or scenes of everyday life.

MADAM – Regarding Bid Barometer, ATG No 2377, your readers might be interested to know that the portrait painting featured is in fact a self-portrait of Helen Lessore (of Beaux Arts Gallery fame).

Posters covering band or artist appearances during the embryonic days of their development are proving very popular at auction – a trend underlined by a group of 1966 Pink Floyd designs.

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).

Figurative art was the other big seller in early September, led by the waxwork of Medardo Rosso’s sculpture Bambina Ridente (see last week’s News pages) which topped a successful week of sales at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) when it more than doubled the top estimate at £180,000.

Unseen on the market since 1946, a view of Sloane Square (below) by Robert Buhler (1916-89) raced to £5000 at Ewbank’s (22.5% buyer’s premium).