Auctions

Works by Modern British artists dominated the latest series of Modern and Contemporary art auctions in London.

This “incredibly rare elaborate, fantastical and exquisitely carved” oak draw-leaf table, dating from the Golden Age of the English Renaissance, stood out at the Paul Fitzsimmons – A Life in Oak sale.

A rare drawing by Matthias Buchinger (1674-1740), the remarkable 18th-century German artist born without hands or feet, is going under the hammer at Cheffins on March 25 estimated at £1000-1500.

A rare silver multi-functional gentleman’s tool by the celebrated firm Holtzapffel & Co proved to be the stand-out lot at Flints' latest sale.

The Oscar Wilde Collection formed over 60 years by bibliophile and former dealer in Oriental antiques Jeremy Mason prompted collectors to come out in force and was 100% sold at Bonhams (28/27% buyer’s premium) in Knightsbridge.

Georgian regalia from two famous Scottish regiments was sold by Railtons (20% buyer’s premium) in Wooler, Northumberland, on February 20.

Among a selection of 19th and early 20th century pictures at Anderson & Garland’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Art Auction was an attractive painting by Elizabeth Adela Forbes (1859-1912).

Our regular listing of books and works on paper sales

A medal with nine clasps from a soldier who was wounded in the head and twice in the thigh during the Peninsular War stood out in a recent sale held by Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s (23% buyer’s premium).

Eton pupil and Cambridge graduate Sir Gerald Festus Kelly (1879-1972) threw himself into art studies in Paris and ultimately became a successful society portraitist.

ATG’s pick of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com, featuring both the highest prices over-estimate and the top prices paid online

Within a matter of a week, two US auction houses sold works of Russian decorative art from the era of Tsar Nicholas II for six-figure sums.

Japanned Jennens & Bettridge creation gains value as rare survivor in such good condition

The New Orphan Houses in the Ashley Down district in the north of Bristol were once the largest orphanages in the UK.

London numismatic auction house Morton & Eden (23% buyer’s premium) sold a silver plaquette by the great Dutch silversmith Paulus van Vianen (1570-1613) for £130,000 at a recent sale.

Latest result for a ‘not in the face of the enemy’ award underlines how such honours have become a popular collecting field

If you look closely at both Lady Butler and Alphonse de Neuville’s paintings of what is probably the most famous British colonial action of the 19th century – Rorke’s Drift – you can pick out a man with a long, thick red beard wearing a blue tunic.