John Nicholson

In 1602 the Dutch painter and printmaker Jan Saenredam made an engraving of a whale that had been washed ashore near the town of Beverwijk.

Relatively few English mapmakers came to the fore in the 17th century at a time when Dutch cartographers were well ahead of the competition.

Oddly titled by its creator as such, an extraordinary watercolour featured on August 10 at John Nicholson’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Fernhurst.

Range of Sèvres highlights from ancien regime to the empire periods sold in UK auctions

The city of Liverpool holds a special place in the oeuvre of John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-93).

Georg Siegmund Stobwasser (1717-76) and his son Johann Heinrich (1740-1829) were among many craftsmen who moved to Brunswick during the Seven Years’ War.

Two exceptional examples of ethnographic art – one from the north-west coast of America, the other for Polynesia – sold in the UK regions last month.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.

The November 11 Islamic & Oriental sale at John Nicholson’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Fernhurst was topped at £6200 (estimate £400-600) by this 19th century cinnabar lacquer table mirror.

‘Miseries of Travelling’ is one of the 50 hand-coloured plates that make up an 1808 first edition of Thomas Rowlandson’s 'Miseries of Human Life' – in this instance “Unpacking up your clothes for a journey because your servant is a fool…”.

A large 13th century Persian lustre tile sold for £80,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at John Nicholson’s in Haslemere.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Louisa Canziani painting.

Despite – or because of – the imminent prohibition, good-quality antique ivory works of art continue to bring solid prices at auction.

A group of portrait miniatures sold recently by John Nicholson’s (30/25% buyer’s premium) in Haslemere, Surrey included this English school image, c.1700, of William Fermor, 1st Baron Leominster.

By tradition, Count Heinrich von Brühl (1700-63), chief minister and favourite to Augustus III, was a man famed for his fashion sense. His tailor was thus an important part of his entourage.

This early-20th century portrait by Ronald Ossory Dunlop (1894-1973) depicts the actor and artist Jean Shepeard (1904-89).

Shin-hanga, meaning ‘new prints’, emerged in Japan during the early 20th century. Aimed at Western tastes, the artistic movement combined the traditional colourful woodblock prints known as ukiyo-e with nostalgic and romanticised Japanese subjects.

Alongside pieces made in Kinsale, Galway and Waterford, silver from the small County Cork town of Youghal is among the scarcest of all Irish provincial silver. Only a handful of pieces survive that carry the punning town mark of a yawl.

The sale at John Nicholson’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Haslemere on October 24 included a substantial collection of ancient (or ancient style) coloured glassware: more than 60 pieces sold across half a dozen group lots.