UK

In a sale that yielded quality and surprises in most sections, the major talking points at Stride & Son (18% buyer’s premium) were provided by two pieces of furniture. Emerging from the same house and given here-to-sell estimates, both achieved five-figure results.

Christie’s has explained its policy of holding trade-only viewings of its sales, saying they comprise ‘business meetings’ rather than public viewings.

Following an internal consultation – and a public outcry – the Wallace Collection has announced its library and archive will remain open to the public.

Although the elegant lines of the Cartier Tonneau Curvex wristwatch are the antithesis of today’s macho tool watch, many were used by soldiers in the First World War.

A cigarette box engraved with the facsimile signature Captain Falcon Scott may have been a piece the Antarctic hero gave to a fellow explorer he offended.

This silver teapot has London hallmarks for 1792 and a maker’s mark for silversmith Michael Plummer who worked out of Gutter Lane, London, from 1791-95.

Bible sold for £160,000 at auction is reputed to be that taken by Charles I to his execution in 1649

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

The handwritten journal of Colonel Christopher Rigby, recording his success in securing freedom for thousands of slaves in east Africa, was the highlight of a collection of his papers sold in London.

Another auction house staging regular sales of Scottish Contemporary art is McTear’s of Glasgow, whose next auction in this category takes place on February 28.

James Perkins, the co-founder of rave music promoter Fantazia, kept an eclectic collection of Contemporary art at Aynhoe Park in Oxfordshire.

The largest contingent of works by British abstract painter John Blackburn (b.1932) ever to come to auction will be offered at Cheffins of Cambridge on February 25.

A large group of works from the collection of Allen and Beryl Freer has been consigned to Chiswick Auctions.

Frieze is opening No 9 Cork Street, an initiative housed in two converted townhouses that will accommodate visiting galleries throughout the year with a focus on Modern and Contemporary art.

The world record for a George Cross has been broken by a medal awarded to a courageous British soldier who died in captivity during the Korean War.

With all 80 lots getting away – 79 to a single UK collector – a group of walking sticks totalled more than £40,000 at Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium).

A manuscript volume sold for £4200 was the main attraction of a sale held by Crow’s (22% buyer’s premium) of Dorking.