International (print edition)

Thuringian auction house enjoys more success with collection of local industrialist

Founded in 1751 at the behest of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, ‘The Royal Prussian Asiatic Company in Emden to Canton and China’ aimed to profit from the trade between Europe and China.

The Flemish designer Henry van de Velde excelled in many fields, working as a painter and architect, before he devoted himself to creating a multitude of designs, from cutlery to furniture, from wallpaper to porcelain.

Collectors with a keen eye for rarities saw to it that unusual pieces of Märklin offered by Antico Mondo (21.5% buyer’s premium) in Bornheim went for multiples of their estimates.

An interview with antiques dealer Jeremy Astfalck of The Old Corkscrew, Franschhoek

Single-owner collection reflects both the port’s position linking trade routes and the artisans it attracted

The South African auction scene is heavily dependent on the work of the handful of painters who played a key role in shaping the nation’s art in the first half of the 20th century.

Generating plenty of competition at Bonhams Skinner (28% buyer’s premium) was this lot of three pieces of Elkington & Co silver plate.

Lacklustre pre-sale activity leaves Canadian auction house concerned but all 17 lots sell successfully

AH Wilkens (22% buyer’s premium) worded the lot notes carefully.

Two 20th century posters in quite different genres set records at auction in early March.

Though leeches do remain in the pharmacopeia, they’re no longer stored in the ceramic jars and urns common to pharmacies of the 18th and 19th century.

Samuel FB Morse (1791-1872) is today best known for his contributions to the creation of the single-wire telegraph system and the co-creator of the Morse code.

High quality sporting cups for Cowes Week yachting and Indian horse racing sell to American bidders

A hitherto unknown c.1902 lithographic poster for Buffalo Bill’s famed Wild West show hammered for $40,000 (£29,510) at Morphy Auctions (23% buyer’s premium) in Las Vegas.

Witherell (25/26% buyer’s premium) in Sacramento, California, posted healthy results for two markedly different lots of British origin: a scarce sporting cartridge advertising display and a silver epergne.

The 1931 etching, drypoint, and aquatint titled Two Beauties by French artist Louis Icart (1888-1950) features subjects he knew and loved.

Eton pupil and Cambridge graduate Sir Gerald Festus Kelly (1879-1972) threw himself into art studies in Paris and ultimately became a successful society portraitist.

Within a matter of a week, two US auction houses sold works of Russian decorative art from the era of Tsar Nicholas II for six-figure sums.

A piece of British naval history and polar exploration history appeared at Millea Bros (25% buyer’s premium) in Boonton, New Jersey.