Features

The golden age of topaz was the 18th and early 19th century.

Stand-out lots from seven upcoming sales

Inventive pieces that can be broken down into modular elements – transformable jewels – began with the French parure in the court of Louis XIV.

Holbeinesque is the term used to describe Victorian jewellery inspired by the Northern Renaissance and the jewels shown in the paintings and sketches of Hans Holbein.

Grays Antiques in Mayfair, close to Bond Street tube station on Davies Street, is one of London’s largest indoor art and antiques markets.

All of the first half-a-dozen issues of Viz comic are rarities – each penned by teenager Chris Donald from his bedroom in his parents’ Jesmond, Newcastle, home with help from his brother Simon and friend Jim Brownlow.

What is being promoted as “perhaps the most significant private collection of British comics ever assembled” is coming to market with two separate auction houses involved.

Fifty years ago a now little-known comic launched that spawned a much more successful title still going strong

Records continue to tumble in the vibrant US market. Hardly a week goes by without another new marker being established as comics thrive in a remarkably buoyant collectables collecting scene, or sought-after high-grade copies attract rocketing prices.

Of all the many subjects painted by Harry Davis (1885-1970) during his long and celebrated tenure at the Royal Worcester factory, among the rarest and most desirable are polar bears in an Arctic landscape.

From the 1770s Portobello was one of the main centres of industrial ceramic production in Scotland.

Collector’s diligence and resolve pay off as he tracks down the crucial evidence

Spotlight on awards that brought rewards for vendors in three separate sales

Dealer from a Cotswolds family business acquired English tin glazed earthenware as a personal interest

Several lots linked to a George Henry Robertson who served in Victorian campaigns in India impressed at Toovey’s (25% buyer’s premium) of West Sussex .

While a First World War memorial plaque (‘death penny’ or ‘dead man’s penny’) is not usually worth that much on its own, when presented with an associated medal group the price can rise considerably.

Two collections of banknote designs and specimens from engraving and printing firm Bradbury Wilkinson & Company were offered at either end of 2025.

A First World War Distinguished Conduct Medal casualty group of four sold for £2800 at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) in Leyburn on December 10.

The disaster of the Charge of the Light Brigade inevitably dominates the tale of the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854, but far more successful actions also took place that day: the Charge of The Heavy Brigade and The Thin Red Line.

The Order of the Durrani Empire (Nishan-i-Daulat-i-Durrani) was established in 1839 and awarded to British field officers and above during the First Afghan War by Shah Durrani of Afghanistan (1785-1842) in gratitude for his restoration to the throne as Shah Shuja-ool-Moqlk, King of Afghanistan.