Auctions

With the great country house contents sales of the past now largely a distant memory, single-owner collection sales have become the next-best thing.

The best Egyptian antiquities now engender much more than mere scholastic fervour but, for the most part, humbler objects remain eminently affordable.

Drawing interest from the US was a portrait of a fierce-looking Scottish laird by John Pettie (1839-93).

This 2ft (60cm) high Charles II needlework looking glass worked with figures and fantastical beasts emblematic of the seasons was estimated at $10,000-15,000 but sold at $80,000 (£61,500) in the Vogel collection auction at Sotheby's New York.

Three lots selling for multi-estimate sums at regional auctions in the UK including a Staffordshire slipware honey pot from c.1700 that drew demand at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury.

Billed as a private London collection, the February 5 sale at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) betrayed a single owner with a good eye and wide-ranging enthusiasms.

A little-known work by a prolific Newlyn School artist became the top lot of Scottish saleroom Elgin Auction Centre’s (15% buyer’s premium) February 6 sale.

Late 18th-century works for children combine juvenile diversion with moral instruction.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from February 26-March 9, 2019.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Letters on the sails of the vessels seen on the title-page of Pedro de Syria’s Arte de la Verdadera Navegacion, published in Valencia in 1602, are a reminder that it was Columbus’ voyage in Spanish service just over a hundred years earlier that led to the ‘discovery’ of the Americas.

Richard P Feynman (1918-88), recognised as a genius in the field of mathematical physics and once described as ‘the most original mind of his generation’, was a star turn in a November 30 sale at Sotheby’s New York (25/20/12.9% buyer’s premium).

The models used in 17th century ceramics were typically derived from contemporary metalwork – and occasionally vice versa.

This set of English painted sycamore trenchers were a wedding gift to Roger Simpson and his bride Mary in 1625 from their cousin. Each plate has an inscription that includes either the bride’s or groom’s name alongside verses about love, sex and marriage.

The Vogels bought 17th and early 18th century silver from How of Edinburgh, SJ Phillips in London and Shrubsole in New York.

Out-sold by the 100-times estimate £22,000 Japanese vase featured on last week’s News pages (ATG No 2380), this gold and silver-gilt chalice, right, offered at Lytham St Annes auction house Gerrards (18% buyer’s premium) on February 7 was a more predictable five-figure star.

An original drawing by Henry Moore (1898-1986) – which the artist labelled as a lithograph – was among the top-sellers of European art at Skinner (23/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Boston.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period February 14-20 2019. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

Heritage begins mammoth dispersal of Otto Penzler’s holdings of detective fiction.

Pictured here are three pieces from the Pelham Olive collection sold by Bonhams on January 31. Two are early English delft and are prize examples because they are inscribed and dated. The third is an example of Staffordshire slipware.