Auctioneers

One of the highlights of Sotheby’s Asian works of art sale in Paris on December 11 will be this jade, zitan and boxwood panel from the Qianlong period.

Gifts from Queen Victoria to two of her god-daughters garnered international attention at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) in Cambridge.

This painting by Le Pho (1907-2001) will be one of the highlights of the Asian works of Art sale to be held by Tajan on December 7 in Paris.

The highest price to date at Parker Fine Art Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) came at its latest Fine Paintings sale when a rare ornithological watercolour caught the eye of a number of bidders, including from abroad.

Offered with moderate estimates, two Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) etchings from the Vollard Suite drew demand at the recent timed online sale of Modern & Contemporary art at Halls (20% buyer’s premium).

Top lot in a golfing sale at PBA Galleries (20/15% buyer’s premium) was a 1927 first of Down the Fairway: The Golf Life and Play of Robert T Jones, Jr.

The distinctive Antipodean ‘botanical’ jewellery of the gold rush era is among the first to depict the native flora and fauna. It is of huge cultural significance to Australia and its mining heritage.

This curious object is the forerunner of a million Christmas cracker prizes. Made in gold and silver, c.1830, the ‘ring’ chased with flowers includes a tiny pin hole which allows a jet of water to be squirted into the face of an unsuspecting admirer via a syringe-like plunger that can be concealed in the palm.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Daniel Sherrin landscape.

Auction houses Bonhams and Phillips have both increased their buyer's premium.

Roma Numismatics set a new record for a classical coin when a Brutus Eid Mar-type gold aureus, struck shortly after the murder of Julius Caesar, took £2.7m in London.

An item of local interest to bidders at Bamfords in Derby was this 18th century account book for Radbourne Hall, the seat of the Chandos-Pole family.

The record for a British coin sold at auction has been broken twice at a sale in Monte Carlo.

Lots of souvenirs were produced referencing the Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746 – the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the last pitched battle fought on British soil.

Strong bidding emerged at Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest Modern & Contemporary Art auction as a work by Irish artist John Shinnors (b.1950) caught the eye of no fewer than eight trade and private buyers.

Before he turned to painting cans of soup and Brillo boxes, Andy Warhol had to make a living by more conventional means.