Auctions

The prosaic description ‘flute stopper’ hardly does justice to the function and ritual importance of the carved wooden artefact sold by Lempertz (27% buyer’s premium).

Two late 17th century recipe books sold for a surprise £15,000 (estimate £400-600) at Dawsons (27.5% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead on August 26.

The furniture in the background of many paintings by Walter Sickert has proved to be a useful aid when dating his works.

When it was introduced to the public in 1956 by the electronics company Braun, the compact stereo system Phonosuper was a spectacular design innovation.

Chairs by leading early 20th century designers were in high demand at an online sale at Dorotheum (25% buyer’s premium) in Vienna this summer.

Our selection of lots from eight upcoming auctions

A 20in (51cm) transfer printed pearlware dish picturing the Durham Ox sold for £3000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at an Antiques & Interiors sale at Bellmans in Billingshurst, West Sussex, on September 1-2.

According to a typewritten record, this brass cap for a 19-gallon fuel tank was retrieved directly from the crash site of John Alcock and Arthur Brown’s Vickers Vimy biplane in Clifden, County Galway.

The top lot in Stair’s (31% buyer’s premium) Americana sale had a distinctly British profile.

For the Bed at Kelmscott was written by William Morris in 1891 as an ode to the oak four-poster at his country home in the Thames Valley.

One of the most renowned names in cricket history scored a high auction result at Knights (20% buyer’s premium) on August 6-9.

The dedicated sale Constructing a Legacy: The Collection of Sir William & Lady McAlpine held by Dreweatts (27/26/20% buyer’ s premium) on August 12 included an intriguing bit of football history.