Auctions

Lots from the Royal Society of Medicine boost Christie's sale result to best of its type since 2016

A highlight of the sale of European Works of Art, Objects & Silver at Olympia Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in west London was The Gunner by Scottish monumental sculptor Alexander Carrick (1882-1966).

Dovecotes also cause a flutter in North Carolina as British pottery achieves strong prices

A set of 12 Chinese export pictures depicting the manufacture and distribution of porcelain was among the highlights of a recent sale held by Nadeau’s in Windsor, Connecticut.

Bought for just £40 last year, two rare bronze buttons designed by Alberto Giacometti for Elsa Schiaparelli hammered for £48,000 at the latest Modern Decorative Art & Design sale at Bonhams Knightsbridge.

An Adelie penguin egg collected by Herbert Ponting (1871-1935) on the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition came for sale in Nantwich on January 8.

A scarce copy of Beatrix Potter’s 'The Fairy Caravan' sold for £3000 in Tennants’ (24% buyer’s premium) Books, Maps & Manuscripts Sale.

One of the eight York Rose brooches given by Prince Albert to the bridesmaids who attended his marriage to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 sold for £15,000.

This carved wooden tobacconist figure or ‘Cigar Indian’ came to Ewbank’s (25% buyer’s premium) auction in Send, Surrey, by descent through the vendor’s family.

As he died more than a decade before the medium really took off, very few photographs of the American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) exist.

A rare first edition of Enid Blyton’s first published book, Child Whispers, hammered at £1400 in the Thomson Roddick (20% buyer’s premium) book sale on December 4.

A handsome 19th century brass boat tiller hammered for $15,000 (£11,235) at Zevantiques (25% buyer’s premium) in Hallandale, Florida.

Expect records to tumble in the market for Indian art and antiques in 2026.

Not that many footballers can be “as deeply woven into Leicester City and Scarborough football history as Colin Appleton (1936-2021)”, it is true.

Did you know that Great Britain are still the Olympic tug of war champions? The City of London Police Team competed for GB in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, winning gold – and the category has not appeared since at a Games.

This imposing pair of 3ft 8in (1.09m) high hexagonal form vases combine both early 19th century Chinese and later 19th century French craftsmanship.

Auctioneer finds out there are two variations of the 1875 guide, but a record is achieved nevertheless