Auctioneers

Three bona fide country house clearances are on the horizon – one conducted by Duke’s of Dorchester following ‘on the premises’ viewing and two others offered in quick succession by Dreweatts at Donnington Priory.

This 19th century painted photograph of an Indian maharaja was the stand-out picture in Sworders’ (23% buyer’s premium) dispersal of the Chelsea home of the late Henry Wilson – a World of Interiors photographer who died in a bicycle accident in 2017.

A ‘turn-up’ religious text was one of the earlier, rarer and more expensive items in a Somerset sale.

France’s annual Journées Marteau event, organised by the French auctioneers’ association SYMEV (Syndicat National des Maisons de Ventes Volontaires), takes place this weekend, April 5-7.

Among the best furniture lots in the regions so far this year was the small early 19th century centre table attributed to George Bullock (1777-1818) offered by Stride & Son (18% buyer’s premium) on March 8.

Weekly clearance sales are increasingly being replaced by newly branded formats as auction houses are responding to fresh consumer trends.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Prices high despite lack of good-quality stock as buyers aim for top standards.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales under £1300, including an Albert Goodwin view of Whitby.

Bearing later Georgian or Victorian embossed decoration, this 13¾in (35cm) diameter, 22oz silver charger, below, was a much earlier work.

Hiring a professional eye to present furniture and objects has become almost commonplace in the big London houses.

David Fulton (1848-1930) was a Glasgow painter who, like his contemporaries Gemmell Hutchison and William Marshall Brown, specialised in painting children in sentimental settings.

Burne-Jones’ studio assistant shows his own artistic skills in the Pre-Raphaelite genre.

Signed to the front cover by all four members of the group, a 1963 ‘Star Special’ (No 12) issue of the fan magazine Meet the Beatles sold for £4200 at Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) on March 6. It also bore the name of a former owner, one RC Zebedee of Bournemouth.

It was a white-glove result for the 49-lot auction of the collection of Jeff Hunter offered by Freeman’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Philadelphia on March 13.

Providing a stern test of the resolve of cricket enthusiasts, a Victorian loving cup was the unexpected star of Michael J Bowman’s (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Chudleigh.

Consigned from a deceased estate in Oxfordshire, a loosely bound album containing nearly 100 watercolours of marine and topographical views drew multiple bids at an Oxford saleroom.

Medical and scientific library includes landmark Vesalius study on human anatomy.