Decorative Art

This exceptional Ilkhanid gold and silver-inlaid brass candlestick has become the most expensive Islamic metalwork sold at auction.

Naturally inspired creations underline the renowned designer’s range of talents

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) designed two electroplated claret or water jugs for Elkington & Co of Birmingham in 1885 – both of them daring designs inspired by vessels from antiquity.

This earthenware charger was painted by Catherine Sparkes (1842-1910), a genre, flower painter and illustrator who made a significant contribution to the development of faience pottery at Doulton Lambeth.

It is with great sadness that I was informed of the sudden death of my good friend and colleague in the trade Roger de Ville… thankfully he was at home and he passed away quickly at the amazing age of 86 years old.

It was not to high-end purist tastes, but ballet pioneer’s collection reeled in eager bidders

Aided by strong American bidding action, the collection of Andrew Crawforth, the late Portobello Road trader and leading authority on early metalware, turned base metal into gold when all 431 lots – offered wihtout reserve – sold at Bonhams’ (27.5% buyer’s premium) Edinburgh sale.

A “vanishingly rare” oil by Barnett Freedman (1901-58) showing a newly liberated Normandy town shortly after D-Day is among the star exhibits at the Winter Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia in London.

Equestrian works by the British artist shine as ‘English country house meets Californian chic’

Andrew Muir bought his first piece of Clarice Cliff – a small and damaged candlestick – for £25 from a pub auction in 1989. Today he is an established dealer in 20th century ceramics and is showing his diverse stock at the latest edition of the Winter Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia (November 2-7).

In reference to James Shaw’s letter published in ATG No 2513 (‘To ping or not to ping, that is the question’).

A rare 17th century elephant automaton clock was the star of the Christie’s New York Exceptional sale when it sold at $2.15m (£1.58m) to a private buyer.

The studio pottery collection of the late US dealer Dr John Driscoll will be offered at Phillips in conjunction with specialist Maak.

Including seafaring, tin, copper, studio potteries and fishing, a Penzance sale covered just about everything from the region bar pasties.

An extremely rare and early Italian maiolica dish, discovered broken in pieces in a drawer, was hammered down at just over £1m at Lyon & Turnbull.