Auctions

Some strong bids were achieved in 2024 for the best of the Della Robbia Pottery but none higher than the £14,000 tendered at Woolley & Wallis (plus 26% buyer’s premium) for a large plaque by Cassandra Annie Walker.

During the 1860s the South Kensington Museum in London (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) campaigned to have electrotypes made of important historic artefacts.

Erik Weisz (1864-1926) launched his monumental career as the illusionist Harry Houdini in 1891 as a specialist in card tricks.

A late but textbook bronze by Henry Moore (1898-1986) sold for $75,000 (£59,000) at a 145-lot sale held in New York by Auctions at Showplace (25% buyer’s premium).

A selection of lots from upcoming sales

The auction market can be a fickle beast, as results for the same items offered on separate occasions sometimes show.

Porcelain birth tablets with their roots in Suffolk are unique to the factory

ATG’s pick of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com, featuring both the highest prices over-estimate and the top prices paid online

A recent weekly sale at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Lewes included an English porcelain rarity: a blue and white Cannon Ball pattern beaker and cover.

Our regular listing of books and works on paper sales

The hugely versatile Christopher Dresser sold 37 different designs to the Sheffield firm of Dixon and Sons from 1879-82.

Gambling today - particularly card playing - is a largely sanitised affair, occurring in luxurious settings under strict observation in town centre casinos.