International

A two-day sale devoted to works of American and international interest is scheduled for September 14-15 at Pook & Pook in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

Sotheby’s Australia has moved to new premises in the ‘Paris End’ of Melbourne.

One of Ireland’s leading provincial auction houses, Mealy’s Fine Art of Castlecomer, County Kilkenny, has ceased trading after 84 years.

Rare books and prints valued at millions of dollars remain at large in the international market in the wake of a US library theft.

On the day that the Bastille was stormed Louis XVI famously recorded “rien” (nothing) in his game book.

France remains one of the most popular holiday destinations for UK residents. If you want to combine an antiques/vintage buying trip with a holiday in either Provence or the Haute-Savoie this month, then a visit to two of the regions’ most attractive towns might feature high on the itinerary.

The top lot at Bonhams (25/12.5% buyer’s premium) in San Francisco on June 19 was an exceptional cased example of a specially engraved Colt 1851 percussion revolver with shoulder stock.

It took a bid of €60,000 (£53,100) to secure a pair of flintlock pistols of c.1730 from the armoury of the Princes of Lobkowitz at Hermann Historica (25% buyer’s premium) in Munich in May.

The owner of a rediscovered painting attributed to Giotto has lost a High Court battle over its export from the EU.

Imperial souvenirs, Expressionist portraits and metalware from Augsburg and Iran were among the recent highlights at sales in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Among the thousands of lots in Hermann Historica’s (25% buyer’s premium) May sales series in Munich, one of the highlights was this gold inlaid karud from Turkestan which sold at €29,000 (£25,665).

It has not been a vintage season for armour in the saleroom, but some of the recent highlights from London and Munich are shown here.