Golding Young & Mawer

A 14th or 15th century Persian mirror that emerged at auction in Lincolnshire took a five-figure sum.

The Komai family of sword makers and armourers were among the many Japanese metalworkers courting a new clientele during the Meiji period (1868-1912).

“Analogous to the Tunbridge ware but of a superior character” was Robert Russell’s description of his work at the 1851 Great Exhibition.

The recent auction at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) included the firm’s biannual horological offering.

Plates from a documented mid-19th century Sèvres dessert set sold for £36,000 at Golding Young & Mawer in Grantham on April 6.

Until its sale last year, Newbold Pacey Hall had been the seat of the Little family since the house was built by William Little in c.1780-90.

Golding Young & Mawer is to offer the untouched collection of a Warwickshire country house at the end of the month.

Covid-19 has played havoc with the jewellery fairs and auction calendar but it has done little to dull the appetite for quality antique and vintage pieces.

A George III gold pair cased pocket watch gave a strong start to the Golding Young & Mawer (20% buyer’s premium) November 4 sale (brought forward a day to avoid lockdown restrictions).

Art and antiques businesses in England are more prepared for trading through this new lockdown having gained experience last time around.

This sailor’s walking cane below displays many elements of the scrimshander’s art: a whalebone shaft carved with spiral fluting, collars inlaid with shell from the hawksbill turtle and a handle carved as a dove from the tooth of a sperm whale.

Ken tanto, distinguished by double-edged blades, are one of the rarer styles of Japanese sword. Most were made as Buddhist ritual implements rather than weapons and are decorated accordingly.

Novelty inkwells such as this one modelled as a miniature six-bolt diving helmet and corselet were made by the Siebe Gorman works in Chessington, south-west London, as promotional giveaways or gifts to staff on employment milestones or retirement.

The artist Henri Jules Jean Geoffroy (1853-1924), known as ‘Géo’, was a member of the French Naturalist movement and was best known for his paintings of Parisian children and daily urban life.

A State Porcelain Factory figure by Natalina Danko (1892-1943) emerged at auction in Grantham earlier this month.

Before an artist achieves ‘blue chip’ status, there is often a watershed moment in the market – a result – that makes people sit up and take note. For the Salford painter LS Lowry (1887-1976) this was the purchase of 'Going To The Match' in 1999 at Sotheby’s by the Professional Footballers’ Association.