UK

Propped up against a huge bolster and bedecked in jewels sits Navneetpriyaji, one of the child manifestations of the Hindu deity Krishna.

This 19th century painting illustrates a scene from the Devi Mahatmya, a famous Sanskrit text centred on the figure of the Hindu mother goddess Devi.

It was in the wake of the Great Fire of London in 1666 that the first societies were created to protect against the losses caused by fire.

This October, the capital hosts The London Autumn Book Fair – a fresh addition to the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association’s (PBFA) 2021 calendar.

To coincide with the belated launch of 'No Time to Die', Lyon & Turnbull of Edinburgh is offering a fine selection of 007 designs as part of a specialist sale of vintage posters held in partnership with specialist Tomkinson Churcher on October 19.

Works by the Croatian painter Nikola Mašić (1852-1902) have appeared at UK auctions on only a handful of occasions in the last 20 years.

Tennants’ sale of Books, Maps and Manuscripts in Leyburn on November 24 will include this rare 15th century illuminated folding almanac on vellum.

The third edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was the last of those published in 1843, coming out (appropriately) on Christmas Eve.

Made from green chlorite mineral rather than bronze, this 8th century Kashmiri sculpture group represents the Hindu god Vishnu with his two attendants, Gadadevi and Chakrapurusha.

The Islamic and Indian Art sale at Chiswick Auctions on October 29 includes this gilt and painted shield made in north-western India (possibly Rajasthan) in the first half of the 18th century.

Striking composition of artist who fused themes and styles is sold to Budapest gallery.

This complete copy of the first folio atlas ever printed in the Islamic world was discovered in one of the nine attics at Weston Hall in Northamptonshire, home of the Sitwell family for more than 300 years.

This Indian gold necklace with a fringe of ruby and imitation pearl drops and flowerheads of green paste and moonstone has a guide of £1800-2400 at Bonhams’ sale of Islamic and Indian art on October 25.

According to the memoir Le Mémorial de Sainte- Hélène by Count Emmanuel de Las Cases published in 1823, Napoleon first expressed an interest to learn the English language during the two-month voyage from Europe to the island in 1815 aboard the Northumberland.

Made from fired clay, this 12in (30cm) high bust head of a bodhisattva comes from a little explored group of sculptures found at Hund, a small township on the ancient site of Udabhandapura in Pakistan, once the capital of the Hindu Shahi kingdom.

Hummingbirds collect nectar against a colourful flora and fauna backdrop in this large 3ft (91cm) square oil on canvas, painted earlier this year by Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake (b.1951).

One of Persian scholar Imam Ghazali’s (1058-1111AD) best-known works, Kimiya-yi Sa’ādat (The Alchemy of Happiness), was compiled late in his lifetime during a period of unrest between Sufi mystics and Islamic scholars – the former accused of overphilosophising Islam and neglecting the importance of ritual practices.

Among the Middle Eastern works of art in Woolley & Wallis’ Asian Art Part II sale taking place in Salisbury on November 24 are these two 17th century Safavid Gombroon ware bowls.

The Books and Works on Paper sale at Chiswick Auctions on November 9 includes a rather special copy of Sir William Gell and John P Gandy’s The Topography, Edifices, and Ornaments of Pompeii.