Auctions

The two opening lots of Chorley’s Modern Art & Design sale on June 2 were a walnut and ebony secretaire cabinet and a dresser designed and made by Arts & Crafts titan Sidney Barnsley (1865-1926).

The latest round of art auctions in Ireland showed a marked buoyancy with totals and selling rates up on recent years.

The French sculptor Paul Comolera (1818-1897) first appears in the Minton records in October 1873 and is listed until 1876. During this short time, he created some of Minton’s greatest models of animals which were often observed from life.

Pelé’s Brazil 1958 match-worn World Cup final shirt is up for auction with an estimate ‘in excess of $6m’.

West Sussex firm has made the trunks something of a speciality after four five-figure sales in a decade

This early 20th century Russian silver and cloisonné enamel pill box measuring just 1½in (3.5cm) across bears marks for Fabergé and Feodor Ruckert (1840-1917).

A group of works with provenance to one of India’s oldest commercial art galleries, emerged at a Plakas (29% buyer’s premium) auction on May 21.

The Japanese netsuke carver Naito Toyomasa (1773-1856) was renowned for his miniature portrayals of animals in a distinctive, highly detailed style.

Selection of advertising art underlines the extraordinary demand in Germany

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.

Henry Piddington (1797-1858) was an English sea captain who sailed mostly in East India and China.

Two very different pieces of glass went way over the odds at a specialist sale at Dr Fischer (30% buyer’s premium) in Heilbronn.

Two impressive vases from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg took top honours at the sale held by Auktionshaus OWL (27% buyer’s premium) on May 16 in Bad Driburg in North-Rhine-Westfalia.

In 1934, a meeting of two great modern painters took place in Bern. One of them was the Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who had left Germany shortly before the end of the First World War.

Both the first and the first trade editions of A Room of One’s Own (1929) were among a collection of eight Virginia Woolf lots included in the April 16 Rare Books, Autographs, & Maps auction at Doyle (28% buyer’s premium) in New York.

An “exceedingly uncommon” signed and inscribed photograph of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) earned top-lot honours in an Autographs sale held at Swann.

Our selection of lots from 13 upcoming auctions

Collectors are looking for lesser-known artists beyond the top targets in a notably strong market