UK

Collected by a Scottish enthusiast, 26 railway station totems – the enamel signs introduced across the UK by newly nationalised British Rail in 1948 – gained UK-wide interest at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow.

Nestlé, today a Swiss multinational corporation, was a much smaller company when this rare lithographed showcard was made.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Sotheby’s has introduced a new fee called an ‘Overhead Premium’ that is payable by all auction buyers across its salerooms and online auctions globally.

Is this the silver cup given by Bonnie Prince Charlie to a trusted aide for his role in returning Jacobite gold to France? Auction house Spink and dealer Martyn Downer believe it is and are looking for a buyer at around £150,000.

A terracotta sculpture of Mary Seacole (1805-81) sparked fierce competition at Dominic Winter.

A mid-16th century 54-bore south German breech-loading wheel-lock holster pistol trebled its top estimate to take £75,000 at a recent sale held by Thomas Del Mar.

Pictured here are three good examples of Worcester hard-paste porcelain from the early decades of the 19th century – at which time there was a trio of factories operating in the city.

While Manchester United and early FA Cup match programmes often make the big money at auction, a group on offer at a West Sussex saleroom showed that far less famous names can also make the running.

Pair thought to be Derby are rated as Gilbody rarities by specialist and dealer who competed

Each bearing estimates of £300-400, two lots in a summer online auction held by Forum Auctions (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) brought substantially higher rewards.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Delayed for a month by the pandemic, the specialist sewing sale held as a timed online auction on thesaleroom.com at Bleasdales (20% buyer’s premium) of Warwick proved a profitable stitch in time. The sale, which covered the gamut of collectables, closed with only 16 of the 665 lots failing to get away.

Just three lots unsold in Edinburgh auction as private and international bidders dominate