Collectables

On January 15 Lawrences of Crewkerne will sell the second half of a remarkable collection of vesta cases or match safes pieced together over a 50 year period by the late John and Patricia McKenzie.

The release this year of movies such as Justice League, Wonder Woman and, most recently, Thor: Ragnarok has brought added interest in the original comics, according to specialist at Heritage Auctions, Barry Sandoval.

Art Deco was a style that epitomised speed and power, wrapped in a sleekness that dominated design from furniture, ceramics and glass to architecture and sculpture.

One of the largest collections of original John F. Kennedy documents remaining in private hands is being offered for sale by a London book dealer.

It weighs just 10gms and measures only 4in (9cm) in length, but this gold laurel leaf is heavy with historical associations.

Culture Minister John Glen has placed a temporary export bar on a Scottish two-part seal matrix linked with Robert the Bruce.

A very early police ‘truncheon’ up at auction on July 25 was more about the short arm of the law than long.

A court in the US will decide the fate of more than 5500 Titanic artefacts after the company that owns them filed for bankruptcy.

A £500 reward is being offered for information that leads to the recovery of this badge belonging to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.

A Georgian miners’ lamp lit up bidding at a Cotswold saleroom this month to a record for a Stephenson model.

British summer and bank holiday trips to the coast used to be synonymous with bucket and spade, ice cream stolen by seagulls, greasy fish and chips and… rain. But don’t forget another popular aspect of the golden age of seaside breaks: the saucy postcard.

A lamp from a wagon that once travelled a 50-mile stretch of track linking the docks of Cardiff to the collieries of the south Wales valleys was hammered down at a Bristol auction for £6300.