Auctioneers

Every lot of a collection of Meissen porcelain, restituted earlier this year to the heirs of Dr Franz Oppenheimer, was sold in a recent US sale.

A portrait of Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift that has hung at Howth Castle since 1735 sold for €234,000 (£200,000) this month.

This rare Victorian silver vesta case with an enamelled scene of an early tiller-driven automobile is hallmarked for Sampson Mordan & Co, London 1896.

As 1980s rocker Shakin’ Stevens once sang: ‘Green Door, what’s that secret you’re keeping?’

The career course of Edith Robinson (1862-1929), a London art teacher and painter of chocolate box watercolours was changed in 1893 when she and her new husband, the Stamford artist Nelson Dawson (1859-1941) attended a series of lectures given by the enameller Alexander Fisher.

This large Ottoman metal thread and silk hanging features a dedication to Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736).

Fellows’ Fine Jewellery sale in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter on September 30 includes an extraordinary collection of 63 mourning rings.

His daring organic sculptural designs re-energised the British jewellery scene in post-war Britain, now Andrew Grima’s (1921-2007) creations are leading the revival of ‘60s and ‘70s designer jewellery on the secondary market.

It is difficult to replicate the occasion of a royal themed auction. Ergo not everything that resurfaces on the market from the fabled ‘Princess Margaret’ sale at Christie’s in June 2006 shows a great appreciation in value.

A selection of four upcoming jewellery lots including a necklace comprising 21 cameos and intaglios previously owned by the Duke of Wellington.

A selection of sapphires that drew interest at auction over the last two months

Three very different lots brought six-figure bids at a Christie’s (25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) summer sale – and they were not the only ones to reach such impressive heights.

Sapphire mining at the Yogo Gulch in Montana began in 1895 after a cigar box of pale blue gems picked from a creek by a local rancher found its way to Tiffany’s in New York, where an appraiser pronounced them “the finest precious gemstones ever found in the United States”.

This photo, below, was taken on September 4 at the annual inter-auction house sailing regatta at Seaview, Isle of Wight. The teams represented were Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Phillips, Roseberys and a dealers’ team represented by the likes of Colnaghi and Agnews.

A recent sale at Wotton Auction Rooms (21.6% buyer’s premium) in Wotton-Under-Edge included this set of three yellow metal fobs set with carnelian intaglios.