Features

Appealing to a range of different types of collectors, particularly aficionados of sewing antiques, Victorian and Edwardian animal pin cushions have their own niche in the novelty silver field.

Estimated at £20,000-30,000, this cast of the Warwick vase by John Samuel Hunt, London 1845, sold for £32,000.

Henry William Dee, the son of Soho silversmith Thomas William Dee (c.1792- 1869), made a speciality of producing silver novelties for Garrard, Leuchars & Son and Asprey’s and other retail goldsmiths. There was real genius here and the patterns for many were patented.

For many years the largest city outside London, Norwich had its own silver assay office during three periods from 1565-1702.

Is the fire returning to the Lalique market? Record results for a private collection of 150 perfume bottles at Lyon & Turnbull suggests it might be

The Lalique glass market – one where most pieces fall in the £500-10,000 price bracket – was once a space dominated in the UK by the major international auction houses, particularly Christie’s and then Bonhams. But the landscape has changed.

Christie’s was first off the mark in terms of releasing details of upcoming lots at this summer’s Old Masters auction series in London. Last week it announced two important consignments from the collection of Cecil and Hilda Lewis.

RAF Wing Commander Terence Helfer’s Distinguished Flying Cross citation stated: “He has undertaken many hazardous missions…”

Old Masters dealers on the international fairs circuit have a robust range of exhibiting options ahead, despite nearly two years of pandemic-related disruption.

An unfinished portrait attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) led the inaugural sale held by Sloane Street Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in London.

A portrait of a young woman which was previously attributed to Angelica Kauffman drew bidding at Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) after being reattributed to George Romney (1734-1802).

More than 1000 Old Master drawings offered in around 500 lots over two days went under the hammer of Beaussant Lefèvre (27% buyer’s premium inc VAT) at Drouot on February 10-11 when the auction firm dispersed the collection of Jacques and Colette Ulmann.

A patriotic Walter Sickert (1860-1942) painting bought by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London is earmarked to be displayed among the exhibits in the new art, film and photographic galleries opening next year.

The only known blueprint of a Great War British Mark I tank has been sold by Carlisle auction house Laidlaw (18.5% buyer’s premium) to The Tank Museum in Bovington.

A rediscovered still-life by mannerist artist Fede Galizia (1578-1630) is among the highlights at Colnaghi’s exhibition 'Forbidden Fruit: Female Still Life'.

The healthy demand for top-notch medals with interesting back-stories shows no sign of decreasing, judging by recent results.

David Jeffcoat (1945-2020) was a man with many interests, not least setting up dining clubs such as the Lunardi Society celebrating the achievements of a hot air balloonist and another named after a local vicar turned highwayman.

The Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD) comprised volunteer civilians providing care to British, Empire and allied troops during the First World War, both in field hospitals near to the battlefield and in more established places of recuperation back home.

Kathleen Lynn can be seen very much as a modern woman of her time. The daughter of a County Mayo Church of Ireland rector, her upbringing was conservatively Protestant and Unionist but she became politically radicalised through her exposure to the poverty of Dublin’s slums while she studied medicine.

French rediscovery of a German artist’s work leads a look at the Old Masters market