Germany

Star of the show at Auktionhaus Heilbronn’s (21.7% buyer’s premium) latest sale of tinplate toys was a rare three-carriage Märklin train from the Rheinuferbahn, the line from Cologne and Bonn along the banks of the Rhine.

In the early years of the 20th century toy trains made in Germany were also aimed at the British domestic market, eagerly sold by retailers such as Gamages.

Among the attractions at Nagel’s auction of Asian art on December 9 in Stuttgart is a blue and white imperial vase from the Kangxi period (1662-1722).

A rare enamel advertising sign in almost perfect condition was the biggest eye-catcher at the recent dedicated sale held by specialist Pari (20% buyer’s premium) in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg.

An early pocket watch by Abraham Louis Breguet with the low serial number 104 was one of the highlights of a recent watch sale at Cortrie (21% buyer’s premium) in Hamburg.

Like his younger brother Lorenzo, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1727-1804) learnt his art in the studio of his father Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

For many decades, from the middle of the 16th century, the south German city of Augsburg was, alongside Nuremberg, the leading clockmaking centre in Germany.

From the 14th century onwards, locksmith guilds were well established in major cities throughout Europe.

Mid-17th century piece of furniture bought in a Berlin saleroom in 1928 sells again in the German capital

Depictions of birdcages on Delft tile-pictures or plaques are not exactly common, but they are not nearly as rare as actual ceramic cages from the Dutch manufacture.

Around 1621, the Flemish painter Frans Francken II created a type of Who’s Who of mythological couples, when he painted his 20in x 2ft 1in (50 x 64cm) 'Triumph of Love' on a copper panel.

In the 18th century, it was common practice for English watchmakers to spend several years in Paris where they were able to learn from the greatest craftsmen of the day, before returning home.

On October 26, Cologne saleroom Lempertz is holding a sale in Berlin devoted to the collection of some 100 paintings amassed by a German connoisseur from the 1980s onwards.

Our selection of lots from five sales taking place in Germany this season

Among the hundreds of new products launched at the Exposition Universelle in 1900 was the so-called eggshell porcelain, produced by the Rozenburg Royal Delftware Factory in the Hague.

There were plenty of potential takers for a Sèvres cup and saucer from the 1840s which came under the hammer at Hargesheimer (28% buyer’s premium) in Dusseldorf on September 11-14.

A French gold and enamel box with an unusual decoration caught the eye of several bidders at Kendzia (16% buyer’s premium).

From October 17-20, the 15th edition of the prestigious fair Munich Highlights is opening its doors in the Residenz, the one-time city palace of the Bavarian royal family.

Schloß Ahlden (25% buyer’s premium) near Hanover was presumably expecting more than the modest estimate of €500 for an 18th century Chinese doucai dish (diameter 8in/21cm) that was to become one of the top lots of a recent auction.