Auction Reports

Among the most desirable of all ‘Prattware’ transfer printed wares are the series of very rare and highly decorative advertising plaques produced for firms such as Crosse & Blackwell and Huntley & Palmers.

Glasgow School designer’s embroidered silk design instantly stood out in a box of fabric.

Often from poor communities and mostly illiterate, men were limited in the ways in which they could plight their troth in 18th and 19th century Wales.

Coin dealer Patrick Deane first became interested in 17th and 18th century trade tokens in 1970 when working at Spink and Son. He sold his first collection of around 1250 pieces in 1984.

Nineteenth-century Grand Tourists and souvenirs from the Orient made for a highly successful outing near Bristol where micro-mosaic panels, intaglios and Chinese vessels led the way at Clevedon Saleooms (22% buyer’s premium).

Forty years after he began identifying Victorian rubbish heaps then digging in them, a Kent collector’s faith in the saying ‘where there’s muck there’s glass’ was vindicated when fellow enthusiasts demolished estimates on scores of his old bottles.

Bronze examples from the estate of renowned late metalware dealer catch the attention

The game between Arsenal v Manchester United in 1979 provided one of the greatest finishes in FA Cup final history.

While traditional antique furniture prices are still relatively cheap, contemporary and mid-20th century material continues to be an expanding market.

A summer Design and Modern sale at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) included a small collection of ceramics by Dame Lucie Rie (1902- 95).

Although catalogued as Kangxi period, an ovoid blue and white vase offered by Stacey’s (20% buyer’s premium) on September 20 is a Transitional piece.

Two classic country house ‘garden’ form 17th century examples show their mettle

Works by one of the finest masters of thrown stoneware come to auction

Literally the highlight of Halls’ (23% buyer’s premium) Autumn Sale was a hall lantern demonstrating showy high Victorian taste at its most confident.

Complex cartouche-shaped marginal wall mirrors from the early 18th century are notably rarer than arched or rectangular examples.

Although catalogued as a lantern, this Russian silver, gilt and enamel object is more probably an incense burner, used in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

The Minton ‘fungi and foxes’ tureen is among the rarest of all majolica game pie dishes.

The sales at Stride & Son (21.6% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Chichester on September 1-2 included a trio of avidly contested items, each a rarity in three highly specialised collecting areas.

Distinctive plaques made to mark births are unique to the Suffolk town’s porcelain factory.

Novelty condiment sets inspired by the far reaches of the British Empire are a feature of Victorian silver.