Features

Builder’s ship models are exactly the kind of old-school exhibits that museums are hiding away in dusty storage or selling off. Fortunately for auction houses, they are instead being welcomed into collections by eager buyers.

The A 1971 Austin J40 pedal car is a relatively common sight at auction and the best tend to make around the £3000-5000 mark. For an example to make more than that it would have to be something very special.

During Edward Belcher’s fruitless two-year search for the lost Franklin expedition from 1852-54, many attempts were made to communicate with Inuit hunters in the hope they would have news of Franklin’s men.

Hard to believe perhaps in today’s glamorous world of the Champions League, but the great Ferenc Puskás (1927-2006) and Real Madrid once graced the turf of Scottish football club Kilmarnock.

As with many popular film and TV brands such as James Bond and The Avengers, manufacturers were eager to cash in on Thunderbirds with an array of merchandise.

Modern-day observers of the Scottish football scene could be forgiven for thinking that Celtic dominance is perfectly normal.

This classic showman’s living van was made in c.1935 by Hurst’s of Retford for Charles Tuby of Doncaster.

A trio of racing car models captures the excitement of 20th century land speed record attempts.

The ‘T’ on the front of this rather grand Victorian or Edwardian fire brigade helmet probably proved the difference when it came to demand.

Walter Child (1840-1930) and Harold Child (1848-1915), the sons of an East End pawnbroker who left a fortune of £30,000, opened as art jewellers in 1880 at 1 Seville Street, Belgravia.

A previously unrecorded Elizabethan gold and enamel signet ring, a gift from the influential Tudor financier and merchant, Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-79), sold for £42,000 at Noonans (24% buyer’s premium).

Just a month after a rare Christian Dior (1905-57) musical brooch was sold Tajan in Paris, two more examples appeared for sale at Fellows’ (30% buyer’s premium inc VAT) Handbags & Accessories auction in Birmingham on June 24.

A modestly estimated Van Cleef & Arpels, 18ct yellow gold gem set charm bracelet from c.1960 did particularly well for Dreweatts.

Antique and vintage jewellery remains a strong suit across a broad range of styles, periods and values.

Crowning the summer jewellery sales was the spectacular Cartier London turquoise and diamond tiara from 1930 offered by Bonhams (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium).

The finest mourning jewels pertain to historical events, royalty, and well-known personages. A good selection has come to market in recent weeks

A Chaumet Art Deco white gold, rock crystal, diamond and ruby lapel clip brooch seen in a 1990s episode of Antiques Roadshow reappeared at a recent Roseberys (26/25/20% buyer’s premium) jewellery auction in West Norwood, London.

A rarity at a recent Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium) ceramics and glass sale was a late 18th century Wedgwood basalt intaglio seal, featuring a profile portrait of the notorious American spy Captain Nathan Hale (1755-76) beside the reversed inscription 'My Country!!!'.

Lyon & Turnbull’s (26% buyer’s premium) sale marking the centenary of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes - the event that later gave Art Deco its name - included a Lalique glass vase that was shown at the event. Quatre Figurines Femmes Formant Soutien, standing 6½in (17cm) high and modelled as a quartet of crouching female nudes supporting an ovoid bowl, was made using the cire perdue (or lost wax) technique.

Two auctions held in the region underline demand for the locally produced ceramics