Sold on thesaleroom.com: A cameo signed by Guiseppe Cerbara, a hare’s fur teabowl and an Australian Batman

A sardonyx cameo signed for Guiseppe Cerbara

Milnthorpe, Cumbria firm 1818 Auctions posted a new house record for jewellery when this 33mm x 42mm neoclassical sardonyx cameo mounted in gold sold for £17,200 as part of a timed sale closing on June 7. The estimate was just £200-300.

Key to its appeal was outstanding quality and the presence of the signature Cerbara for a member of the Rome dynasty of medallists and gem-cutters. Given a probable date of c.1820 the most likely candidate is Guiseppe Cerbara (1770-1856), master of the papal mint from 1822 who oversaw the creation of papal medals before he was succeeded by his younger brother Nicolla Cerbara (1796-1869).

Against interest from Hong Kong, the brooch (in good condition save a minute area of discolouration) was eventually bought by a London jewellery dealership.

Batman 1, an Australian reprint by KG Murray

In June 1940, after local protests about the volume of cheap overseas magazines and comics saturating the Australian market, the government placed a ban on the importation of American comics and overseas syndicated reprints.

After the war local publisher KG Murray took advantage of the opportunities this presented and began publishing both original Australian comics and reprints of US comics including some of the DC superhero titles.

Batman Comics (soon retitled simply Batman) was first printed by Murray in 1950. This copy of issue No 1 was offered by Comic Book Auctions in an online sale that closed on June 7. Estimated at £40-500, it caused something of a surprise when it sold via thesaleroom.com at £3050.

In 1959 the Australian government lifted import restrictions and US publications became available in once more.

A Jian ware (hare’s fur) teabowl with 'jinzhan' mark

This Jian ware (hare’s fur) teabowl dates from the 12th century and the height of the Northern Song dynasty.

In addition to its distinctive olive-black glaze, it is impressed to the base with a two-character mark 'jinzhan' – translating as ‘presentation tea bowl.

The cataloguer at Canterbury Auction Galleries explained that, while Jian ware was not made in the imperial kilns, it was much prized at court and pieces marked in this way suggest some were supplied as tribute. As part of the June 6-7 sale it sold to a buyer using thesaleroom.com at £15,500 (estimate £400-600).