Auctioneers

This Allegory of Spring by the 17th century Italian artist Pietro Liberi (Padua 1605-Venice 1687) is one of the works in the May 21 auction of Old Master paintings and furnishings that opens Babuino’s next auction series in Rome.

Whether you’re in the market for mammoths or missiles, for 10 years Summers Place Auctions has been a likely destination. In 2008 SPA held its first auction, having been formed the year before.

Mexican lots, one of them relating to the working of a silver mine in the 16th century, produced some of the higher bids in a recent Americana sale.

Briefly catalogued as a 19th century French cabinet embellished with gilt metal mounts and a jasperware plaque, this highly decorative piece shown below was a stand-out offering at Rayleigh auction house Stacey’s (20% buyer’s premium).

Unusual in the post-internet age, Freeman’s first-floor gallery in downtown Philadelphia was standing room-only for the April 29 auction of the collection of Dorrance ‘Dodo’ Hill Hamilton (1928-2017).

Dealer Chris Martin-Zakheim is selling his stock after closing Iconastas of Piccadilly due to ill health.

If pictures provided the backbone of the Dodo Hamilton collection, then there was no denying the sale’s most popular entries: a large selection of polychrome painted rattan and wicker conservatory furniture, perfect for the Florida beach house.

A look at the latest saleroom appointments, including Roseberys appointing a former director and works of art specialist at Christie’s.

An early German whaling scene took top honours at marine specialist Charles Miller’s (20% buyer’s premium) May Day sale in West Kensington.

The honours of the last Duke of Cambridge (before Prince William) will be in the spotlight at a London auction this summer.

Another spring sale, another impressive total. But perhaps what distinguished the silver sale held at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) was that the £750,000 total was mainly built up by affordable collectors’ items.

Estimated at £400-600, a Satsuma censer by Kinkozan provided more evidence that there is considerable life in the market for top-quality Meiji works of art when offered by Surrey auctioneer Catherine Southon (18% buyer’s premium).

The belief that porcelain dolls are somehow sinister has taken hold in recent years – and doubtless the appearance of the rare bebe pictured below rather reinforced the bias of some who viewed the Heliers (18% buyer’s premium) sale at Blackburn.

Two fine Dutch pieces quadrupled estimates at Woolley & Wallis on April 24-25: a c.1637 wine cup by an unidentified Middelburg smith and a table bell.

Exotic visions are Orientalist art’s stock-in-trade. Bustling bazaars and colourful mosques, lavish harems and sun-drenched deserts populate the canvases in this field.

Modern Egyptian art emerged as a stand-out sector during Islamic Week. The leading lot of Sotheby’s 20th Century Art/Middle East sale was a work by pioneering painter Mahmoud Said (1897-1964), dubbed the father of Egyptian modernism.

The eclectic collection of Dr Georg Fischer goes under the hammer at Tajan in its Paris rooms on May 23.

An essential of genteel Georgian life, silver apple corers with their simple elegance were once much prized by collectors. However, a collection of nine early 19th century examples offered at Woolley & Wallis on April 24-25 met a mixed reception, with only five getting away.

The footballing power of mighty George Brown led to his nickname of ‘Bomber’ decades before the title went to Gerd Müller. Brown’s glory days were with Huddersfield Town FC, a power in the land 90 years ago.

The first Guide Michelin was published in 1900 and no fewer than 35,000 copies were printed for the World Fair in Paris, where it was was distributed free of charge to motorists.