Germany

A memento of the last great age of transatlantic ocean travel can be found at the sale of Peter Karbstein in Düsseldorf on July 11.

It is thought that the German artist Adelheid Dietrich (1827-91), renowned for her incredibly detailed still-lifes of fruit and flowers, completed only 50 paintings during her career.

For 300 years, from the 1520s to the 1820s, the great Gothic cathedral in Cologne remained unfinished – the building overshadowed by a large crane, which for centuries dominated the panorama on the banks of the Rhine.

In April this year, the founder of the auction house Nusser in Munich, Ursula Nusser, died aged just 66.

Military uniforms reached their ornamental peak in the 19th century Western Europe – with the leaders of the day sharing in their ostentation

Dual time zones watches first came into fashion in France, where they were used to show both ‘time’ in the traditional manner and also Revolutionary time, a short-lived idea based on the decimal system.

A black chalk drawing of a skeleton drew an extraordinary competition at a German auction house Lempertz at the end of last month. Estimated at €3000-3500, it attracted at least 15 bidders and was eventually knocked down at €420,000 (£381,820) to a French dealer.

A recent sale at Lempertz (25/20% buyer’s premium) was held in Berlin dedicated to works of art from Prussia. The outstanding favourite was a gold and enamel presentation box, a gift from the German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Under the changed regulations in Germany it would have been possible for Dr Andreas Sturies (20% buyer’s premium) in Düsseldorf to hold the spring auction in front of an audience.

A freeform table from the 1950s was the surprise winner at the design sale of Schops Turowski (23% buyer’s premium) in Krefeld on May 9.

In his day, Johann Heinrich von Dannecker was one of the most prominent German Neoclassical sculptors. He was born as the son of a stable-hand to the Duke of Württemberg, but went on to become the duke’s court sculptor.

A portrait of a 16th century Protestant theologian and reformer surfaced at a sale at Ginhart (23% buyer’s premium) in Tegernsee, some 35 miles south of the Bavarian capital Munich.

The Parisian clockmaker Henri Lioret (1848-1938) entered the market for ‘talking machines’ in an unconventional fashion – his first patented device of 1893 was a talking doll.

Painting went through lengthy ownership saga before being returned to family and then sold.

One of the central attractions in Rome is the Piazza Navona and the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers). It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1650 at the behest of Pope Innocent X.

Rare work on absolute geometry among highlights of mammoth German ‘lockdown’ sale

For centuries, China was a rewarding market for European clock and watchmakers who created extravagant timepieces for their Oriental clientele.