Ceramics

During the administration of Rutherford Hayes, who served as the 19th President of the US from 1877-81, the White House commissioned a dinner service from the Haviland factory in Limoges.

Among the most desirable examples of Victorian majolica is the series of whimsical teapots produced by factories in the second half of the 19th century.

A large plaster relief panel executed by Pilkington’s, designed by Gordon Forsyth and modelled by Richard Joyce, will be offered at Gildings next month.

The Nicolier family were long-established antiques dealers who were based on the Quai Voltaire on the Parisian left bank for many decades.

Only two examples of this 11in (28cm) Sèvres biscuit porcelain bust of Napoleon’s son, Napoléon-François-Charles-Joseph Bonaparte (1811-32), are known.

The murder of William Weare in the Hertfordshire village of Radlett in 1823 has been called the first trial by newspaper.

Collectables firm JG Autographs has started to hold auctions, with the first running online until August 23.

This unusual Grand Tour paperweight shown here is made from fragments of Roman mosaic, millefiori, spiral twist and reticelli glass.

Overseas interest in tribal art and Doulton Lambeth wares fuelled the higher prices at Cuttlestones’ (20% buyer’s premium) Penkridge sale but it was a new outbreak of cardomania which raised temperatures of collectors across England.

Both categories are particularly notable as Mark and Marjorie Allen lots sell in Pennsylvania

Bonhams Skinner’s August 13 Americana auction in Massachusetts will feature a wide selection of American, English and Chinese Export works of art and paintings.

A new record for a Royal Doulton figure has been set in Stoke-on-Trent.

Estimated at £40-60, a pair of puce decorated creamware plates sold for a surprise £2000 at Bamfords (21% buyer’s premium) in Derbyshire.

Although he initially specialised in small furnishing objects and statuettes, the Parisian bronzier Victor Paillard (1805-86) began exhibiting with more elaborate creations in the 1840s.

I am currently writing a supplement to my book 'The patterns and shapes of the Pinxton china factory 1796-1813', published in 1996.

An English delft drug jar offered by Great Western Auctions (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow was both a polychrome and a documentary piece.

A remarkable Sèvres part tea service made to mark the recovery of George III from illness in 1789 was among the unheralded highlights of this year’s London sales season.

The major summer sales of works of art included a boxwood prayer nut and Rothschild provenanced vases.

Topping the bill at Dore & Rees in Frome, Somerset on July 6 was this 2in (5cm) archaeological revival brooch by Castellani.