London

Almost exactly contemporary, the two works featured here came from the library of Christian Heuer and were offered as part of a July 1-9 summer sale at Sotheby’s (25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium). Both are distinguished by the observations of their authors.

An intricate rolled paper work from the end of the 17th century comes to this year’s 'LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair' – which takes ‘legendary’ craftsmanship for its theme.

Auction house Bellmans has announced the appointment of Samantha Dunn-Davies to head its new London office in Brook Street, Mayfair.

This copper-alloy Roman mask will be offered for sale on September 3 by TimeLine Auctions in London, estimated at £80,000-100,000.

Highlights at Roseberys (25% buyer’s premium) brought more than the usual sense of trans-centuries time travel experienced at such auctions of 500 disparate lots.

London-based vintage costume jewellery dealer Amanda Bhatia, aka Dottie Annie’s Vintage, is a new exhibitor at the Clerkenwell Vintage Fashion Fair.

This double-page engraved chart is from an early-17th century pilot book which is another of the highlights from the Mopelia Collection of atlases and travel books offered in London.

The term ‘duty dodgers’ is applied to pieces that were not sent for assay during the period 1720-58 when a steep tax was placed on silver. Silversmiths had a variety of methods of escaping this tax – including transposing marks from small articles to large or overstriking marks from older pieces.

Roman relic up for auction is believed to be from same workshop as famous helmet.

Featuring in Dix Noonan Webb’s Jewellery, Watches, Antiquities & Objects of Vertu sale in London on September 10 is a Hellenistic period single gold earring, c.3rd century BC.

Kallos Gallery features this 2nd century Roman marble eagle in its autumn catalogue and on its stand at TEFAF New York in October.

Useful buys if you want to know how to ‘pott a Swan’, ‘fry Harticholk’ or even ‘stew Lettice’

“The wayfarer, as he reached him, saluted with a gesture of courtesy that had something foreign about it”.

Founders who started out in Cornwall showcase four Mod Brit artists hailing from St Ives.

Relatively few English spinets from the 17th century survive but one surfaced at a Criterion auction in Islington. Loosely catalogued and estimated at just £100-200, it made £5500 (plus premium).

One of the highest prices for Albert Chevallier Tayler (1862-1925) at a UK auction in the last 10 years was achieved at Roseberys’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest picture sale when a late Victorian ‘period’ scene attracted multiple bidders.

The reason that an otherwise unexceptional 1737 English language edition of Horace’s 'Odes, Satyrs and Epistles' – lacking a portrait and three text pages – sold for the substantial sum of £50,000 in the Bonhams (27.5/25/20/13.9%) sale on June 26 is to be found on the front endpaper notes shown below.

'Versuche über Pflanzen Hybriden' by Gregor Mendel is a paper that marked the foundation of the science of genetics.