International

Not just Harry Potter but also Tolkien and CS Lewis works generate serious demand in US

Couple of friends amassed extensive collections that led to a book and a major exhibition

A new American firm, LCG (Legacy Collectibles Group) Auctions, sold what it described as “the highest graded Cobra Commander GI Joe action figure in existence” in a timed sale last year.

Certain areas became hubs for the manufacture of toys, such as Nuremberg and Erzgebirge in Germany.

This gouache by Fernand Léger (1881-1955), Les Loisirs, will be one of the highlights of the next sale at Clarke Auction Gallery in Larchmont, New York, on February 6.

Found covered in grime in a Portuguese auction house, a three quarter-length portrait of a dark-haired lady by Dutch artist Willem Wissing (1655-1709) has been restored to its former glory by a Belgian dealership and the identity of its sitter revealed as a British aristocrat.

The June calendar for art and antiques fairs is filling up as TEFAF revealed new dates.

Munich auction house Hermann Historica (25% buyer’s premium) regularly turns up showstopping lots of arms and armour and the star of the latest sales series was a weapon that was always designed to impress on every level.

Bidding on an exceptionally fine, virtually mint first edition of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone offered in the special Firsts into Film section of a December 9-10 sale opened at $75,000.

Milestone Auctions recorded some buoyant prices for rare variants of toy motorcycles in its sale last October (see ATG No 2516).

Auction totals for 2021 underline the strong recovery since the start of the pandemic

Phillips has appointed Jean-Paul Engelen to the newly created role of president, Americas. In addition, he will continue as worldwide co-head of 20th century and Contemporary art.

Two British sporting scenes by French artist Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) were among the best-sellers in auctions held within a day of each other on either side of the Atlantic.

A rare black and white Disney production image of Mickey Mouse will feature as one of the highlights in the Animation Art auction at Heritage in Dallas from February 4-7.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

ATG picks out 16 recent stand-out items making waves in German, Austrian and Swiss salerooms