Auction Reports

Watches with military associations carry a certain cachet with collectors.

With the unusual provenance of having been dug out of a London sewer during excavations in 1930, the 15th or early 16th century copper alloy candlestick shown here underlined the truth of the maxim that where there’s muck there’s brass.

This iron model of a hawk above is a striking example of a jizai okimono – lifelike, articulated animal figures popular in the last decades of Edo-period and Meiji Japan.

A classic ‘barn find’ piece, this somewhat dilapidated jukebox was spotted as a potential golden oldie at Gardiner Houlgate (22% buyer’s premium).

The second day of Bellmans’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale on August 3-5 included a Chinese hardwood table that catapulted way above its £1000-1500 estimate.

Collection of distinctive pre-war glass produced in Perth impresses at local saleroom

Samplers made by siblings or generations of the same family can attract a significant commercial premium.

Only a handful of companies have created products with sufficient impact that their brand names become generic descriptions for objects of their type.

The best-performing entry of the Lindsay Burns (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Perth on July 20-22 against estimate was a militaria lot.

The pictorial enamel signs advertising Webb’s Seeds of Stourbridge are some of the most popular on the market.

In the mid 1930s players making an England debut could receive a gold commemorative medal instead of their normal match fee.

Along with its Summer Fine Art sale, Tennants held a jewellery, watches and silver sale on July 17.

Front page pair of £68,000 candelabra headed a varied auction with plenty of highlights

Chinese trick or surprise cups were made to deceive a drinker and illustrate the classical paradigm that modesty brings gain and arrogance results in loss.

The central stone to this Art Deco seed pearl and diamond pendant is an elongated cushion-shaped pink sapphire, weighing about 25ct.

Distinctive steeple cups are scarce but an Elizabethan silver example came to market at a Somerset auction house

A silver sale at Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer’s premium) this summer included a selection of 24 snuff boxes from the Lion collection – as published in 'British Silver Boxes 1640-1840, The Lion Collection' (2015).

The dictum that class is permanent was borne out in a Newbury saleroom by prices for damaged pieces

From the same north London home as the Chinese Export mirror and an Irish dining table sold at Dreweatts was this pair of bronzes by Alfred Drury (1856-1944).

Depicting Bacchus and Ariadne riding a golden chariot drawn by leopards, a monumental Mortlake tapestry led a small but significant textiles section at Dreweatts.