Auctions

As a general rule late Victorian ceramics are at a low ebb, and teasets in particular. Bucking that trend was the extraordinary bid for this Wileman Shelley six-place tea set offered by Lockdales (19.5% buyer’s premium) Martlesham, near Ipswich.

A pair of trademark gouaches by Mary Fedden (1915-2012) drew strong bidding at auctions in Derbyshire and Essex.

Early children’s books, many from a single collection formed by the late Mary Joy Sanger, provided a principal attraction in a February 27 sale held in Penzance by David Lay (18% buyer’s premium).

Collecting traditional English ceramics is still a popular pursuit on both sides of the Atlantic – but one where purchases are always tailored to fit the purse strings of the core collecting audience.

The contents of a country house near Tetbury yielded many of the better lots in a Chorley’s (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Prinknash Abbey which included a garniture of three Pinxton porcelain bough pots.

British portraiture with pedigree provided plenty of action in a strong sale of pictures at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) of Cambridge.

A previously unknown copy of the Golden Age comic that heralds the arrival of Batman sold for a premium-inclusive $569,000 (£410,000) in York, Pennsylvania last week.

An 80-lot James Bond collection offeredin a recent Lincolnshire sale had been formed over a 40-year period.

London auctioneer Roseberys is to offer a previously unpublished sketch by John Constable on March 21.

Paul Comolera (1818-97) was one of a series of prominent sculptors who travelled to work in Stoke-on-Trent at a time of political upheaval in France.

An auction house in a small Bavarian town sold a Dutch Golden Age painting for more than 50 times its estimate back in November 2017 – setting a record for an artwork auctioned online in Germany.

Christie’s has two dedicated drawings sales, one devoted to Old Master and 19th century works on March 21, the other to modern works on paper on March 22.