Dorset

The A 1971 Austin J40 pedal car is a relatively common sight at auction and the best tend to make around the £3000-5000 mark. For an example to make more than that it would have to be something very special.

Auctions like this don’t come along often these days.

Serendipity had it that two Regency pollard oak and ebony inlaid desks attributed to George Bullock (c.1762-1818) came for sale within a matter of hours on June 12.

Talk of ‘mammoth’ sales usually entails a sizeable selection of lots.

Ship models ruled the waves but railway toys were certainly on track too as two sales held either side of the Pond offered the collection of the late Tony Cuff.

A single-owner private collection of pre-Second World War Bassett-Lowke maritime electric, motor, clockwork and live steam model boats is for sale on April 11-12.

Recent auction sales shone the spotlight on pioneering photographers active in the first days of the art

Based in workshops near the Place des Bergues in Geneva in the 1850s-60s, the jeweller Auguste Dutertre (1798-1866) found a niche making so-called ‘bijoux à montres’ - watch movements concealed in notebooks, powder-boxes or, as here, a pair of lorgnettes.

Estimated at £200-300 but sold for £4200 at Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) in Sherborne, Dorset, were two design books from the Royal Doulton workshop floor.

A scarce First World War recruiting poster proclaiming Irishmen Avenge the Lusitania has sold to a London museum as part of a large collection offered at Dorset saleroom Onslows (29% buyer’s premium inc VAT).

A gold-mounted garnet intaglio ring depicting the handsome Greek youth Antinous was taken to a multi-estimate £24,000 at Busby’s (25/10% buyer’s premium), triggering speculation it might be one of the lost ancient Marlborough gems.

More pieces appear from a collection that survived a couple of devastating blazes at the family home

Braxton joins newcomers at a market with 32 dealers and a waiting list

Advertising showcards were displayed in grocers and chemist shops, often as counter displays or hanging signs.

Royalty, heads of state and grand families frequently chose to have their porcelain engraved with their initials or coat of arms.

The maker was not indicated in the cataloguing but a “late 19th/early 20th century dapple grey rocking horse, with leather tack” galloped away from a £200-300 estimate.