International

Events returning after the usual summer shutdown give a chance for the personal touch.

Top-lot honours in a summer sale of European furniture and decorative arts at Freeman’s (28% buyer’s premium) in Chicago went to a 1903 showpiece Martelé silver punch bowl by Gorham.

How an online-only auction house is taking its biggest consignment to a global audience.

An oversize 1881 albumen photograph of Thomas Hill’s painting 'The Last Spike', depicting the instant of the creation of the first continental railroad in the US, rolled to a five-figure sum at Freeman’s (28% buyer’s premium) in Chicago.

'Rumsinterior', a signed, undated oil on canvas by Swiss-born Danish artist Bertha Wegmann (1847-1926), hammered for $24,000 (£17,900) at Stair (31% buyer’s premium).

Described as a “pair of Chinese porcelain candlesticks. Late 19th century” and bearing the modest guide of $600-800, a pair of iron red-decorated holy water vessels hammered for $85,000 (£63,375) at Tremont Auctions (19% buyer’s premium).

The latest sale of Art Nouveau and Art Deco at Rago (28% buyer’s premium) in Lambertville, New Jersey yielded impressive results, totalling $953,938 (£781,450), selling 97% by lot and 165% by value.

Collotype portfolios by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) ranked first and second in a Prints & Multiples sale at Toomey & Co (28% buyer’s premium) in Chicago.

Full set of seasonal series from the 1840s stars as Californian collection of literature comes for sale in US

George Washington portrait was thought to be a copy of Gilbert Stuart work by Canton artist Foeiqua

The name Ducret has been closely connected to the world of faience ever since the 1950s, when Siegfried Ducret published the first of numerous indispensable handbooks for collectors of and dealers in European porcelain and faience.

A Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Medal group of 10 Second World War honours coming up in a New Zealand auction recognised not just one but two successful escapes from captivity.

Among the major dealers in portrait miniatures are Elle Shushan and Philip Mould & Company.

The Age of Jazz figures issued in 1930 are among the most desirable of all Clarice Cliff models.

A Wedgwood Fairyland lustre rarity – an original work on paper design by Daisy Makeig-Jones (1881-1945) – featured among the top lots in the July 12 auction at Lion and Unicorn (28% buyer’s premium).

Brilliantly coloured design in the Chinese manner caught the eye of famous collector and connoisseur

The heyday of Dutch and English tinglazed earthenwares coincided with the reign of William and Mary.