Auctioneers

From the late 18th century, Birmingham was the centre for the making of ‘toys’ – small decorative objects including boxes, nutmeg graters, buckles, caddy spoons, vinaigrettes and rattles, fashioned from silver.

After what Sloans & Kenyon (23% buyer’s premium) president Stephanie Kenyon deemed “furious bidding that lasted at least five minutes”, a textbook equestrian painting by Benjamin Marshall (1767-1865) trotted to a fine result.

The many models of anthropomorphic primates that proliferated British decorative arts in the 1860s typically reference Charles Darwin’s provocative and often lampooned 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection', first published in 1859.

A recent sale at Shapiro Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) included a picture that would have been familiar to admirers of Spanish Surrealism.

“A Holy Grail moment for collectors worldwide” was the promise from Merseyside auction house Omega (29/35% buyer’s premium inc VAT) when a scarce picture sleeve came for sale.

This 2ft 6in (75cm) high five-light candelabrum hallmarked for Sheffield 1844 and the firm Creswick & Co (Thomas, James and Nathaniel Creswick) is both an impressive example of early Victorian table silver and a memento of the heroic era of polar exploration.

“This has been the biggest single cataloguing job of my career - an extraordinary experience,” said John Silke, vinyl specialist of Surrey saleroom Ewbank’s (25% buyer’s premium).

Spoons are among the very few pieces of English silver surviving from the period of Wars of the Roses.

As part of a Fine Art auction in Surrey on June 25, Catherine Southon is selling a collection of British art exhibition posters from the estate of Professor Zacron (Robert Drew), the maverick artist best known for the album cover of Led Zeppelin III.

A fine English table clock by Huguenot maker Stephen Rimbault (1711-86) generated plenty of competition at auction in the Netherlands.

The sale of a private collection of arms and armour at C&T Auctions in Kent, on May 13 included a brass figure of a cavalryman from a small but well-known group of Indian toy soldiers.

This impressive array of costume jewellery sold in Paris showcased the work of half a century and seven creative directors of the Dior brand.

Cartier’s aquamarine jewellery appears to have been predominantly produced from the London workshop starting in 1932.

While Whitby jet was particularly fashionable during the reign of Victoria, it had been a popular material for jewellery from the Romano British period onwards.