Auctions

In 1830 the French government organised a competition for a painting to decorate the wall of the Chamber of Deputies’ Sessions Hall in the Palais Bourbon.

Our selection of stand-out lots from six upcoming auctions

The second half of the 19th century was a key period in the European art pottery movement with much experimentation in glazing and design.

A late 15th century French illuminated manuscript vellum leaf achieved the stand-out result in a collection of illuminated manuscripts offered at Batemans (25% buyer’s premium).

A recent sale held by arms and armour specialist Antony Cribb (25% buyer’s premium) in Compton, Berkshire, included one of the rarest of British patent corkscrews.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

Gillian Raffles (1930-2021) was one of a very small number of pioneering female gallerists in Britain’s post-war art scene.

A rare photograph from the funeral of Victorian explorer Dr David Livingstone (1813-73) comes to auction in Essex this summer.

The lost art of murrine - the creation of complex patterns by fusing together slices of coloured glass cane - was rediscovered by glass blowers in the Venetian lagoon in the late 19th century.

It’s not often that a group of medals offered at auction includes two that were in fact officially revoked. However, a lot that appeared at an East Yorkshire auction house on June 27 reflected a notorious tale of colonial corruption.

A robe worn by magician and comedian Tommy Cooper (1921-84) during the performance in which he which he suffered a heart attack and collapsed on stage has been sold at a North Yorkshire auction.

This unusually large giltwood figure of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of compassion and mercy, attracted numerous bidders to Nagel’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) sale of Asian art on June 6-7 in Stuttgart.

A classic example of fin-de-siècle eroticism caught the eye of several collectors at Hampel (29.5% buyer’s premium) on June 26 in Munich.