International

Scarce complete small pamphlets produced by the fairy tales author Hans Christian Andersen come to auction ‘for first time’

When a c.1890 May Morris for Morris & Co embroidery came up for sale at Toomey & Co (27% buyer’s premium), the timing was less than perfect for the midwestern lady who was destined to become its new owner.

An ivory netsuke described as ‘after Tomotada of Kyoto’ hammered for Can$42,000 (£22,840) against an estimate of Can$1200-1800 at Harrington’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Ontario.

In the early to mid-1930s, the German company Saalheimer & Strauss produced four versions of tin litho banks with an image of Mickey Mouse on them.

A hitherto unrecorded Art Deco masterwork by Armand-Albert Rateau (1882-1938) caught the eye at an Italian sale.

Doulton designs consigned by a descendant demonstrate the ceramicist’s great glaze achievement

A diminutive Queen Anne walnut longcase signed by Christopher Gould (c.1655-1718) made $25,000 (£18,645) against a guide of $2000-3000 at Locati (25% buyer’s premium) in Pineville, Pennsylvania.

Two pieces of pre-war Orrefors glass were consigned from a Bloomfield Hills, Michigan estate for sale at DuMouchelles (24% buyer’s premium) in Detroit.

Two paintings of trademark male nudes by British artist William Etty (1789-1849) emerged in a US saleroom as part of the collection of a university lecturer.

The Saunders collection seems to have been the consignment that Sotheby’s could not afford to lose.

A 1911 oil sketch by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) depicting his daughter Eileen astride a white horse generated plenty of competition at AH Wilkens (22% buyer’s premium) in Toronto.

The only known bass drumhead featuring John Bonham’s personal symbol – the interlocking rings that became his mark after Led Zeppelin’s fourth album – hammered at $70,000 (£53,000) at Heritage (25% buyer’s premium) in Dallas.

Painted in 1857, 'Young Boy Blowing Bubbles' by John Thomas Peele (1822-97) pre-dates by a generation Sir John Everett Millais’ 1886 oil Bubbles (A Child’s World) made famous in advertisements for Pear’s soap.

After what Sloans & Kenyon (23% buyer’s premium) president Stephanie Kenyon deemed “furious bidding that lasted at least five minutes”, a textbook equestrian painting by Benjamin Marshall (1767-1865) trotted to a fine result.

A recent sale at Shapiro Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) included a picture that would have been familiar to admirers of Spanish Surrealism.

A fine English table clock by Huguenot maker Stephen Rimbault (1711-86) generated plenty of competition at auction in the Netherlands.

This impressive array of costume jewellery sold in Paris showcased the work of half a century and seven creative directors of the Dior brand.

The sale of Fine Jewellery & Ladies Watches at Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dublin on May 13 included an impressive retro sapphire and diamond ‘tank’ ring, c.1940, that came for sale from the ‘private collection of a Continental lady’.