Auctioneers

Lots Road Auctions is to expand its range and frequency of sales as it celebrates 40 years in business.

“Germany calling, Germany calling” were the chilling opening words spoken by the upper-class British accent of William Joyce – Lord Haw Haw – and other presenters in propaganda radio broadcasts from Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

Sphairistike, an ancient Greek term meaning skill in playing at ball, was the name Major Walter Wingfield chose for the game he patented and first advertised early in 1874.

The earliest days of Tottenham Hotspur FC are revealed in a remarkable hand-written ledger coming up at auction in a November 4-5 London sale.

A large collection of Rockingham porcelain will be on display at Wentworth Woodhouse next month ahead of its sale at auction. The Rowley collection, numbering 120 lots, was assembled by a collector hailing from Sprotborough, Doncaster, who now lives in Buckinghamshire.

Diaries, journals and letters kept by Lady Anne Cullum (1807-95) of Hardwick House, near Bury St Edmunds, sold for a total of around £8000 in a recent East Anglian auction.

A wealth of objects shelter under the great ‘Asian art’ umbrella – together representing five millennia of artistic endeavour across one quarter of the globe. Here we preview a series of Asian art objects available for sale at galleries and auctions over the next month, and each from a different moment in time or geography. From the cult of Monju to the beginning of a new Japanese imperial era – all tell a compelling tale.

Three pieces of original artwork were the big money spinners in a Comic Book Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) timed online sale on thesaleroom.com which closed on September 1.

Offered at a recent sale at Mullock’s in Ludlow were three early-19th century games pitched at £150-200 apiece but sold at much higher sums.

Cubist work by often-overlooked artist fuels keen bidding before heading to California.

A selection of UK and international auction highs and milestones from the past year.

Two modestly estimated watercolours by the Victorian ornithological painter Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935) emerged as the star sellers in an auction in South Yorkshire.

A first portion of the library of the late Eric Gerald Stanley, a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, featured in a recent auction at Mallams.

‘Grolieresque’ cover on 1527 edition of key Italian Renaissance work boosts auction value.

The history of Satsuma wares, among the most recognised and profitable export products of the Meiji period, is interwoven with the opening up of Japan after centuries of isolation.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales for £3000 or under, including a Francis Bacon lithograph.

Every year Asian Art in London presents two awards for the most outstanding work of art: one for an item offered by a dealer, the other for a work offered by an auction house. The awards are co-sponsored by Antiques Trade Gazette and Apollo magazine.