Auction Reports

The Royal Copenhagen ‘Danish National Costumes’ series designed by sculptor and modeller Carl Martin-Hansen was produced between 1906-25.

The estimate of £1000-1500 reflected the condition of an Elizabethan ‘Great Bible’ offered at Cotswold firm Wotton Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium).

A scarce First World War recruiting poster proclaiming Irishmen Avenge the Lusitania has sold to a London museum as part of a large collection offered at Dorset saleroom Onslows (29% buyer’s premium inc VAT).

Full array sells for £26,000 while single lot hammers at £6500 as enthusiasts compete in salerooms

Private British buyers dominated proceedings as the Teddy Bears of Witney went under the hammer at Special Auction Services (20% buyer’s premium) in Newbury.

The core of the December 10 Out of Europe sale at the Cardiff rooms of Rogers Jones (22% buyer’s premium) was formed by the collection of Miss Annie Elizabeth Tookey.

Alabaster fragments from old Alexandria, a small box of gold from Australia, dried seaweed from the Gulf of Florida and Oceanic tribal artefacts.

The highlight of an extensive selection of Barbie dolls offered at Wessex Auction Rooms (19% buyer’s premium) proved to be, as predicted, an example of the very earliest produced.

A rare group of Fairylite Thunderbirds action figures sold for £2100 in Tennants’ (24% buyer’s premium) latest Toys, Models, Collectables & Sporting sale.

Although made in Nuremberg by a firm named after a Frenchman, the cowcatcher on the front of this Gauge 1 toy locomotive gives the game away as to the intended market.

A gold-mounted garnet intaglio ring depicting the handsome Greek youth Antinous was taken to a multi-estimate £24,000 at Busby’s (25/10% buyer’s premium), triggering speculation it might be one of the lost ancient Marlborough gems.

A suite of three oak panelled bedroom pieces with original invoices from the Robert Thompson workshop were the stand-out lots at a recent sale at Gildings (24% buyer’s premium) of Market Harborough.

Lanchester Road in County Durham is a route leading eventually into the village of that name, surrounded by fields but essentially unremarkable.

A Roman marble portrait bust of an Antonine prince emerged Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Stansted Mountfitchet.

A pair of English walnut chairs sailed above expectations to bring £17,000 at HRD Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Brading on the Isle of Wight.

A Books, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs sale that ran online at Bonhams Knightsbridge (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium) included a fine group of Suffragette textiles. A particular rarity is the Votes for Women ‘motoring’ scarf.

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

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.