Edinburgh

Shown below is a plate from A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pyrates… sold at Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) on February 19

This 14in (25cm) diameter bronze bell shown here bears the insignia of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (the Dutch East India Company or VOC), the date 1747 and the name Jaffanapatnam. It is suspended in a wrought iron frame and mounted to a large stone mill wheel.

'La Navigation du Roy d’Ecosse' by the French cartographer Nicolas de Nicolay (1517-83) is said to be the oldest accurate map of coastal Scotland.

The 19th century Dutch painter Jozef Israëls (1824-1911), a leading member of the Hague School group of landscape painters, was best known for his realistic and sympathetic portrayals of the Dutch peasantry and fisherfolk.

The arts of the Ottoman court are performing strongly in the marketplace. The unexpected highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s Five Centuries auction in Edinburgh on February 5 was an Ottoman saddle.

Private domestic demand rather than trade drives bidding at Scottish and Irish art auctions.

Alongside two key early maps of colonial North America (see News, ATG No 2422) the sale at Ramsay Cornish (20% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on December 7 was distinguished by five-figure bids for two rare items.

Two key early maps of colonial North America were offered for sale at Ramsay Cornish in Edinburgh on December 7.

A central Edinburgh location, men wearing tartan trousers and kilts and a bagpiper greeting guests: three ingredients suggesting that Lyon & Turnbull has hosted the most Scottish of parties to celebrate 20 years since its renaissance as an auction house.

An early watercolour by Isabel Codrington (1874-1943) depicts the Norse legend of the goddess Iduna and King Thiassi, who disguised himself as an eagle to kidnap her.

Instruction from author Fleming was thankfully not followed and first issue survives.

Some of the most striking 19th-20th century jewellery can often be found in design sales.

A Linthorpe pottery sake bottle designed for the Middlesbrough pottery by Dr Christopher Dresser has sold for a record £17,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium).

Two early maps of colonial north America come for sale at Ramsay Cornish in Edinburgh on December 7. They were discovered at the Edinburgh home of the late Dr Ann Carswell, an American born in Washington and educated at Cornell and Harvard.

A rare contrast to the Jacobite glass which has served Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) so well was a large mid-18th century goblet with a wheel engraved portrait of the victor of Culloden. It was inscribed 'His Royal Highness William Duke Of Cumberland'.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the football league in Scotland has not always been dominated by Celtic and Rangers. The last time a team outside the Old Firm won the title was Aberdeen in 1985.

More reliable today than they ever were in their lifetime, the male line of the Stuarts attracted the familiar devoted following at the annual Scottish Silver & Applied Arts sale at Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium).