Collectables

A group of railway posters, found in a cellar and almost discarded by their owner, sold for more than £5000 at the House and Garden sale at Mallams in Abingdon.

A very rare gold coin took top honours at the auction held by Künker (23% buyer’s premium) in Berlin on January 31.

A table game published by John Wallis called The Mirror of Truth was one of two notable juvenilia lots in the opening children’s and illustrated books section of a March 6 Devon sale.

The first of four sales scheduled by Morphets of Harrogate for the dispersal of a single private library will take place on April 3-4.

Two iron padlocks caught the eye of numerous bidders at the February 28 sale at Wendl (18% buyer’s premium) in Rudolstadt.

Our listing of British and Irish book auctions taking place from March 26-April 6, 2019.

Pouring wine at the table from a standardised machine-made bottle is a relatively new custom. For centuries before the Victorian era, wine was typically bought and stored in the barrel and decanted into bottles or jugs only before use at the table.

Whatever it may be, someone, somewhere will be avidly collecting it.

This 1937 portrait of art dealer Ambroise Vollard is included in an exhibition of Picasso ceramics, linocuts, etchings, lithographs and books at Peter Harrington’s Fulham Road gallery.

Having stood in the George IV pub in Workington since the 19th century, a mahogany penny slot machine made its last public appearance at Cumbrian auction house Mitchells (20% buyer’s premium).

In the wake of record auction prices – the first £1m bottle of whisky and a $500,000 bottle of wine – four auction specialists discuss the lively market for fine and rare wines and whisky. A potted history of wine-related antiques follows. First up: Richard Brierley of Forum Auctions and Sam Hellyer of Chiswick Auctions on the wine market.

Contrary to popular opinion, the name of the Rock-Ola company of Chicago, which became famous for the production of distinctive jukeboxes, has no connection to rock ’n’ roll. It is in fact a fortuitous coincidence that the firm’s founder was actually called David Cullen Rockola.

In the wake of record auction prices – the first £1m bottle of whisky and a $500,000 bottle of wine – four auction specialists discuss the lively market for fine and rare wines and whisky. Here, two whisky specialists outline the market trends: Graeme Maxwell of McTear's and Mark Littler, independent antiques and whisky broker.

Since she moved to France two decades ago Rebecca Lloyd Marlow has visited the country’s countless markets looking for antique buttons.