Auctions

As heroic a defence against the odds as Rorke’s Drift, and certainly more important, the twin battles of Imphal and Kohima are much less well known.

Just occasionally it doesn’t always pay to catalogue with great depth.

Joseph Fröhlich (1694-1757) was a well-known figure at the Saxon court from the late 1720s onwards. He was appointed court jester to Augustus the Strong in 1727 and held the position for three decades – perfect for a man whose family name translates as ‘happy’.

Bid to £1.35m at Christie’s (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) this summer, as part of a ‘Classic Week’ evening sale of paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture and decorative arts of all ages, was a lavishly illustrated Book of Hours attributed to the Master of the Monypenny Breviary and associates.

A selection of nine upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland.

A celebrated Una and the Lion proof set minted in the first year of Queen Victoria’s reign returns to auction next month.

The highlight of a two-day sale of works from White Oaks, a prominent Atlanta mansion, was this portrait of Anglo-Irish society hostess Oonagh Guinness by Philip de László (1869-1937).

Choice specimens of the rarest English coins are reaching new financial territory.

Economic stimulus packages are not a new phenomenon. Georg Siegmund Stobwasser (1717-76) was among the many craftsmen attracted to the Brunswick by the special privileges granted them in the city by Duke Karl I (1713-80) in the wake of the Seven Years’ War.

Christo (1935-2020) is famous for the series of monumental projects to wrap landmarks around the world undertaken with his wife and collaborator Jeanne-Claude (1935-2008).

Twelve pieces of Post-War & Contemporary art from upcoming auctions taking place in the UK and overseas.

A Beatles-themed sale held by Cato Crane (28% buyer’s premium) in Liverpool last month included architectural souvenirs from St Peter’s Church in Woolton.

A notable of feature of the Post-War and Contemporary art market is the wide variety of mediums employed.

The works of French painter André Masson (1896-1987) are regarded as a bridge between Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.

Launched in 1956, La Biennale des Antiquaires, now an annual event known as La Biennale Paris, is one of the world’s longest-established and best-known art and antiques fairs.

The allure of well-priced, market-fresh chattels from a blue-blood country estate can pique the interest of the most world-weary auctioneer or antiques dealer.