International

Part of the legend of escapologist Harry Houdini (1874-1926) rests on the hundreds of ‘challenges’ he accepted from manufacturers of packing cases, boxes, handcuffs and the like.

The Van Blarenberghes were a dynasty of artists from Lille in northern France.

A handkerchief made in early 19th century Scotland celebrating the 1776 Declaration of Independence and featuring portraits of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson hammered for $55,000 (£40,425) at Eldred’s (26% buyer’s premium).

Rare Renaissance item hammered at €450,000 is boosted by armorial for two significant families

An original piece of Astérix cover art painted by Albert Uderzo (1927-2020) sold for an $360,000 (£267,000) at Heritage Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in Dallas, Texas.

Geneva’s blue ribbon jewellery sales are not the obvious place to find a suite of mid-18th century English silver dessert plates.

Two-in-one edition of the first and last Jane Austen novels had sat undisturbed in a hallway for over 50 years

An undated cast of Giambologna’s Allegory of Astronomy hammered for a remarkable $500,000 (£367,325) at San Rafael Auction Gallery in California.

Among the highlights of the Fine Jewellery sale at Adam’s in Dublin on May 12 was this remarkable Louis XV hardstone, gold and gemset cane handle.

A seemingly never-ending bidding match ensued at Cortrie in Hamburg on May 9 for a tourbillon-watch by the German watchmaker Richard Miklosch (1939-2014) .

Sir Robert Walpole’s first seal salver re-emerged from a century in a US private collection to sell for a hammer price of $190,000 (£140,500) in New York.

With Sixties and Seventies style again part of the collecting zeitgeist, vintage Kutchinsky pieces are now common currency for the best of the UK’s antique and vintage jewellery dealers and auction houses. However, it also pays to look further afield.

This oil on panel portrait of a saint is an addition to the small number of autographs by Quattrocento painter Antonello da Messina.

Jodocus Hondius’ additions for his edition of Gerhard Mercator’s pioneering 'Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura' made the work one of the most accomplished collections of maps from the early 17th century.