Auctions

An original illustration for one of the most entertaining works on rare book collecting hammered for £15,000 to lead Mallams’ latest Modern Art & Design auction.

An ‘exceptional and newly discovered’ Mamluk manuscript copy of an Arabic text on hippiatry (equine medicine) was the highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s latest Islamic and Indian art sale in London.

An extensive collection of art, antiques and silver from Corby Castle, one of Cumbria’s most historically important mansion houses, will go under the hammer in a three-day sale at Tennants from January 22-24.

An original Andy Pandy string puppet from the BBC children’s TV show of the same name first aired in 1950 caught the attention at a Kent auction 75 years later.

John Lennon, Yoko Ono and U2 were among the big names making big prices at the John Peel Collection Part One auction held by Omega (25% buyer's premium) back in September (see ATG No 2708).

When a 16th century white marble bust of an elderly man with a furrowed brow and resolute gaze came up for sale at Nagel (29.5% buyer’s premium) in Stuttgart, it was clear that more than one bidder was confident of knowing either the identity of the artist or that of the subject.

Every one of the 300 vases and figures from German collection gets away on the day

Paul McCartney famously sang ‘Baby, You Can Drive My Car’ with the Beatles but he could clearly drive himself.

An astronomical compendium sold at Rehm (22% buyer’s premium) in Augsburg contained everything that a 16th or 17th scholar of the heavens needed for observations.

These two pages of working lyrics for the Jimi Hendrix song Room Full of Mirrors (which later appeared on his 1971 album Rainbow Bridge) are handwritten on Londonderry Hotel, Park Lane, stationery.

It was little surprise that Kinsky (25% buyer’s premium) in Vienna was given the legacy of Michael Kovacek, a specialist dealer in Art Nouveau and Art Deco, to sell.

When a pinstripe suit came up for auction at West Midlands firm Fieldings (26% buyer’s premium inc VAT) it had an interesting consequence.

Our regular listing of books and works on paper sales

Boba Fett – one of the most feared bounty hunters in the known galaxy – was one of six hired by Darth Vader to capture the crew of the Millennium Falcon, and eventually caught up with them in Cloud City (ATG is not sure a spoiler alert is needed for early Star Wars films...).

Described by Fieldings (26% buyer’s premium inc VAT) of Stourbridge as “by repute used on the set of Only Fools and Horses”, this Mid-century cocktail bar came for sale guided at £500-600.

Irish silver rarely appears at German auctions but when it does, it seldom goes unnoticed.

Collection of film crew member who worked on gruelling Star Wars shoot in Norway comes for sale

Numerous bidders at a Peter Karbstein (25% buyer’s premium) auction in Düsseldorf took a fancy to a 19th century marble statue of The Flight from Pompeii.

A hand-cranked movie camera from 1908 was one of the stars at a recent sale at Auction Team Breker (21.8% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.