North America

The Ephemera Fair, the annual event from the Ephemera Society of America (ESA), runs this year with a conference on the history of invention as well as the usual huge selection of stock.

Edward Curtis is famed for his photographs documenting the disappearing world of Native Americans

Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805-71) began to develop the very first mystery clocks in c.1830.

De’ Conti and Tintoretto works shine as part of the Old Master sales in New York

A first edition copy of a book documenting the sinking of a ship by a sperm whale in 1820 went under the hammer at Potter & Potter (25% buyer’s premium).

Candy and Andy were just like any other children in the late 1960s, except that they lived with two pandas called Mr and Mrs Bearanda and owned a Mini called Stripey.

Teacher turned designer was part of the Royal Doulton team creating some of the first HN figures

The original 1934 design for 'Le Genie de la Mer' by Carlo Sarrabezolles (1888-1971) was meant for the ocean liner Normandie and is currently on display outside the CMA CGM Tower in Marseille.

The top lot in Potter & Potter’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Wunderkammer Sale was Gustave Vichy’s (1839-1904) 'Aubade a la lune' (Serenade to the Moon) mechanical automaton. It is considered a signature model of the firm.

The collection of Selim Zilkha (1927-2022), founder of Mothercare, represented a stern test of the market for early English silver.

As with last year’s equivalent sales, the winter Old Masters auctions in New York looked a little thin.

The mid-1920s were tough times for architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959).

Daisy Makeig-Jones’ lustre designs for Wedgwood arrived at precisely the right time.

Credited with saying “an army marches on its stomach”, Napoleon Bonaparte knew the value of eating well, both at home and on the road.

Less-than-pristine paints and brushes from the studio of Lucien Freud (1922-2011) were sold by University Archives (23% buyer’s premium) in Wilton, Connecticut.

An inheritance influenced Boston dealer duo to turn their collecting interest to a different market