Auctions

New figures obtained by the BADA reveal that piano keys represent the vast majority of ivory items exported from the UK in the past three calendar years.

At a time when catering for niche interests is a profitable path for auctioneers, recent sales in Scotland, Ireland and England have shown that the furniture market can still come to life – provided it meets three criteria.

Near and far beyond London, the UK regions offer an autumn calendar thronging with specialist auctions. Here Gabriel Berner previews some forthcoming highlights.

Modestly estimated staples of the once-booming Georgian furniture market can still bring pleasant surprises.

Nine centuries after it first became a thriving art form, Limoges enamel ware remains a popular choice as evidenced by a tazza offered by Chorley’s (20% buyer’s premium).

Chinese material beyond the headlining world of porcelain continues to boost totals across the UK’s salerooms, occasionally eclipsing estimates.

Rude Rowlandson print is among the highlights of Gloucestershire auction.

Private Collections, an October 3 sale at Bonhams (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium), offered works of art from a number of sources and among lots from the estate of the late Victor, 3rd Viscount Churchill – a cousin of Winston – there were a few books.

Auction house told it must improve the way it advertises extra sale charges and taxes

Thirteen auction houses take part in this year’s Asian Art in London, the number swollen by overseas as well as UK regional salerooms. Roland Arkell previews forthcoming highlights.

Three modestly valued works in regional sales including a David Jagger portrait.

The dust jacket is far from pristine, but this 1933 first of The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas is signed and inscribed by both its subject and her lifelong partner, the writer Gertrude Stein.

Probably a puzzle to all but experts in the field, the item shown below is a transit instrument – one of three which all went well above estimates at a cameras and scientific instruments sale held by Special Auctions Services (17.5% buyer’s premium).

They may not have been the most photogenic lots in the catalogue of a recent London sale, but a couple of lots were highly attractive for their significance in the maths and measurements field.

Coalbrookdale cast-iron furniture, subject to ebbs and flows of fashion, has dipped a little in recent years, but this c.1850 occasional table is a rarity. It was surely made for the conservatory rather than the garden.

Representing just a fraction of the international art market and often overshadowed by the demand for 2D art, Irish sculpture has undergone a quieter recovery.

Black Rock Galleries in Greenwich, Connecticut received bids up to $388,000 (plus 18% buyer’s premium) for a bronze it believes is Buste de Saint Jean-Baptiste, a previously lost lifetime cast by Rodin.

Was this the gun that John James Audubon (1785-1851) used to create the world’s most expensive natural history book?

While demand is encouraging, a scarcity of high-quality work is hitting the supply side

Eleven years after John Kennedy Toole committed suicide, fellow writer Walker Percy was the man who ensured that his only book, A Confederacy of Dunces, finally got into print.