Decorative Art

A staple at American barber shops of the 19th and early 20th centuries was the occupational shaving mug.

The Durrington Collection of Glass, a select 60-lot auction which Bonhams (28/27/21/14.4% buyer’s premium) offered for sale last year, featured some of the best examples of 18th century British glassmaking across a number of collectable categories.

Explorer and naval captain George Vancouver set sail from King’s Lynn in April 1791 aboard HMS Discovery to survey the Pacific Northwest coastline of North America.

Geoffrey Walton has a collection of 18th century cider and perry glasses. He has used his considerable knowledge of the items and the social background at the time they were made and used to write a book on the subject.

A rare silver and turquoise tazza designed by Erik Magnussen (1884-1961) for the Gorham Manufacturing Company sold for $24,000 (£19,000) at Schwenke Auctioneers (29/27% buyer’s premium) in Woodbury, Connecticut.

This smiling tabby cat formed part of an extensive collection of Scottish Wemyss Ware sold at Lyon & Turnbull.

The novelty silver mounted glass claret jugs made in the form of birds and animals in the later Victorian era by goldsmith firms such as Alexander Crichton and Sampson Mordan were very popular in the later part of the 19th century.

When Australian auction house Artvisory offers the Robert Burke collection on February 19-20 in Melbourne it will launch around 300 lots of prime 18th century English porcelain onto the market.

Two exceptional pieces of Venini glass surfaced at auction in the final days of 2023 on different sides of the Atlantic.

Though largely forgotten today, Lillie Langtry (1853-1929) was probably England’s first superstar, moving effortlessly from the stage to high society.

The earliest records of the silversmithing on the Tyne date from 1249.

A lampshade painted by Quentin Bell sold for a remarkable £4700 when Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) dispersed the residual collection of Michael Evans in Macclesfield.

A sterling silver scale model of the Lockheed TriStar aircraft was the top lot at Kinghams’ (25% buyer’s premium) Silver and Objects of Vertu sale in the Cotswolds.

Roseberys’ (26/25/20% buyer’s premium) final Fine & Decorative sale of the year included this recent charity shop donation: a Nantgarw cabinet plate decorated by Thomas Pardoe (1770-1823).