Auctioneers

The latest statistics show art and antiques are playing a part in sales growth around the country.

An original sketch by JMW Turner (1775-1851) has sold for £22,000 (plus buyer’s premium) at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester.

A gold memorial ring made for one of Nelson’s ‘Band of Brothers’ - and containing a lock of the Admiral’s hair - is to be sold at Duke’s of Dorchester on December 7.

A Picasso from his Rose Period, a Sèvres porcelain dessert service made for Napoleon and a Monet waterlily painting are among the highlights to be auctioned at Christie’s as part of the estate of billionaire banker David Rockefeller.

A painting by Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) from 1938 which had previously hung at St John’s College, Oxford was the top lot at Christie’s evening sale of Modern British art yesterday.

Probably best kept out of the hands of children unless, like the member of Bonhams' staff seen here, they are wearing white gloves, inscribed firsts of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone’ are getting seriously expensive.

A major record for the artist CRW Nevinson (1889-1946) was set at Sotheby’s in London yesterday when an important wartime scene sold at £1.87m (including premium).

Stamp and coin dealership Stanley Gibbons Group's investment subsidiary is to go into administration.

A leaf that was once part of the famous laurel crown made for Napoleon for his coronation in 1804 has been sold in France for a hammer price of €500,000 (£443,193).

If you want a gold coin to have rarity value, then an example from a monarch whose reign lasted only a couple of years is a good start.

Did you miss the Tate’s exhibition on Ray Harryhausen? Don’t worry, there is a chance to see some of the weird and wonderful beasts that this legendary animator created at a Surrey auction house.

An original sketch by JMW Turner is expected to achieve £15,000-20,000 at Moore Allen & Innocent’s selected antiques sale in Cirencester on November 24.