Auctions

Whatever the collective noun is for carriage-driving enthusiasts is – a whip-round? – they were gathered from across Europe for the dispersal of the collection of the UK’s doyenne of the carriage trade.

Offered as part of a recent online sale, a scarce work by Walter Savage Landor that had remained unsold in a New Bond Street auction only last July finally achieved, on April 25 of this year, the high-estimate sum of £2400 that both salerooms had been looking for.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Dogny Auction in Lausanne will be offering this portrait by Albert Anker (1831-1910) as a highlight of its June 5 summer auction.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from May 21-June 2, 2018.

Not, perhaps, the face modern eyes would immediately think of captivating an emperor, but this porcelain plaque portrait of Napoleon’s first wife, Josephine, was one of a number of major attractions at Canterbury Auction Galleries’ (24% buyer’s premium) Spring Sale.

Private buying carried away two top-selling works at John Nicholson’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Haslemere, Surrey.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s autograph manuscript of one of the 13 short stories that in 1905 were gathered together in book form as The Return of Sherlock Holmes was offered in New York recently.

Lenses and slides caught the eye of buyers at specialist science and early technology auctioneer Flints (20% + VAT buyer’s premium) at its two-day sale of Fine Photographica & Instruments of Science & Medicine.

Around 50 lots of French porcelain from the collection formed by Nadia Ortiz Patino of the famous collecting family are to be offered in a June 6 sale at Drouot, to be held by Thierry de Maigret under the expertise of Hervé de la Verrie.

Called to look at some toy trains in the home of a lady who had recently died at a great age, Special Auction Services (17.5% buyer’s premium) specialist Hugo Marsh was surprised to be shown two early and rare Bing items. They had been collected by the lady’s first husband and stored away since he was killed in the Second World War.

Once again it was Harry Houdini who topped the bill in the most recent magic memorabilia auction held by US specialist Potter & Potter Auctions (20% buyer’s premium).

Barbara Jones joins a growing band whose peacetime work is also now in strong demand.

A 1731, first printed edition of Wycliffe’s 14th century English version of the New Testament was bid to a record £10,000 against an estimate of £200-300 in a recent Nottingham auction.