Auctions

Fieldings’ picture consultant William Lacey said he could remember a time 30 years ago when works by Wigan artist James Lawrence Isherwood (1917-89) could be bought for £30-40.

A rediscovered Francis Bacon is to be offered at Christie’s next month with a £7m-10m estimate.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Glasgow saleroom McTear’s holds a dedicated military watch auction on September 19. Most entries are from a private collection and include watches from the so-called ‘Dirty Dozen’ – the 12 Swiss manufacturers commissioned to supply the British Ministry of Defence during the Second World War.

Among the highlights of the sale at Doyle New York on October 18 are two emerald and diamond brooches set with stones that display the prized deep green colour concentration of Colombian emeralds.

Although much less fashionable than they were, a set of silver candlesticks can nonetheless prove solid sellers as did these four, above, at Mallams’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Oxford on August 23.

The slow, but observable, return of competition for fine Japanese works of art was evident at Hannam’s (20% buyer’s premium) of Selborne on August 23 in the form of this large Meiji ivory scholar’s table screen, below.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Victorian landscapes can often be difficult to shift at auction, but a fine panoramic view near Redhill in Surrey by Edward John Cobbett (1815-99) gave a boost to the Boningtons (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Epping on August 21.

Eureka Stockade has been dubbed as the only ‘battle’ to have taken place in Australia but was in reality little more than a skirmish in global terms. However, the 1854 uprising that cost nearly 30 lives is now recognised as a seminal political event in colonial history and one that marked the birth of democracy in Australia.

A set of four Victorian kangaroos salts made by silversmiths Hunt & Roskell sold for Aus$70,000 (£42,000) as part of the Fairfax collection at Leonard Joel in Sydney on August 31-September 2.

A 19th century topaz pendant with cushion-shaped diamond accents raced to £9000 at Mallams’ Silver & Jewellery sale in Oxford on August 23.

Topping the 175 toys at David Lay’s (15% buyer’s premium) sale at Penzance on August 22, was this 1930s clockwork tinplate Krazy Kar marked By Permission Walt Disney – Mickey Mouse Ltd to the rear and Made in England to the left-hand side.

It was a busy summer for Keys (20% buyer’s premium), who had book sales in both July and August.