Europe

A plaster figure by the Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943) set a new auction record for one of his sculptures when it was sold by Lempertz (26/20% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.

Well-funded bidders joined the fray at the recent sale of tinplate toys held by Hohenstaufen (24.5% buyer’s premium) in Göppingen. The two top lots were very different but brought equally impressive results.

Bronze works by the accomplished 20th century sculptor prove to be sought-after purchases

Fellow German artists Beckmann and Dix also starred during auctions held in Vienna and Munich

For this year’s edition, the Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair (BRAFA) will be celebrating its 70th outing.

An unusual, slightly risky, but highly effective late 17th century alarm clock found a new owner at Dr Crott (25% buyer’s premium) in Mannheim.

Painting sold in Zurich was one of the series of views from the apartment where he spent his last months

Over 300 watercolours were produced for each one of the 60 copies of a remarkable ornithological work

Before he devoted himself fully to Impressionism, the French painter Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) created numerous more traditional landscapes, one of which was on offer at Tiberius (27% buyer’s premium) in Vienna.

Viking artefacts seldom appear at auction and when they do, they cause quite a stir.

The vast majority of the 116 known engravings created by the German artist Martin Schongauer in the second half of the 15th century are depictions of religious scenes or portraits of biblical figures.

During the 1860s the South Kensington Museum in London (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) campaigned to have electrotypes made of important historic artefacts.

Top Meissen pieces amassed by US buyer attract interest worldwide but many will stay in Germany

A bronze vase by the Parisian goldsmith Lucien Gaillard caused a stir at Dobiaschofsky (25% buyer’s premium) in Bern.

Swiss coin auction house Numismatic Genevensis has sold a rare Roman gold coin featuring the portrait of Marcus Junius Brutus for SFr1.5m (£1.34m).