Germany

In today’s world of modern communication, it is inevitable that several Chinese collectors would discover a 16th century Ming Dynasty ritual vessel in the catalogue of a saleroom in a small town on the edge of the Black Forest in the south-west corner of Germany.

Gold coin rejected at first but now identified as once owned by renowned Russian collector

This watercolour and pencil drawing from 1833 which became the star lot at a recent sale at Nusser (25% buyer’s premium) in Munich had an imperial connection.

Abraham Louis Breguet is generally considered to be the greatest watchmaker of all times, responsible for numerous inventions, which revolutionised the art.

Among the works of art on sale at Hampel in Munich on March 25-26 is a so-called Pendule au Manège from the early 19th century.

Hugo de Groot, also known as Hugo Grotius, was a Dutch philosopher, political theorist and theologian. His publication 'On the Law of War and Peace' in 1625 earned him the status as the ‘father of international law’.

One of the attractions of the March 24-26 sale at Siebers in Stuttgart is a collection of 18 paintings by 19th century Polish artists who primarily belonged to the Munich school. The works were the property of a family of textile merchants, who moved from south Germany to Lodz, south west of Warsaw, in the 1930s.

Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755-1842) was one of the most prolific painters of her era, creating up to 1000 works of art, the majority of them portraits.

Legendary yarn explains how this material became a key component of the artist’s designs

The American artist Donald Judd (1928-94) abandoned painting in the 1960s and devoted himself to producing three-dimensional objects.

Among the surprises at a Contemporary art sale at Ketterer (25% buyer’s premium) in Munich was the result for a work by the painter-poet Henri Michaux.

Sold for a record €260,000 (£234,235) in Hamburg was a copy of Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer’s Speculum nauticum super navigatione maris occidentalis…

Cortrie in Hamburg is holding an auction of watches and vintage timepieces on February 13.

Presented on vellum with luxury colouring and illuminated with silver and gold, this is a rare first edition of Theuerdank.

In a market challenged by a lack of fresh consignments, works new to the saleroom stand out

A local collector who consigned a pair of Chinese porcelain vases to Hargesheimer (25% buyer’s premium) in Düsseldorf was in for a substantial pre-Christmas surprise.

This portrait of a young girl with a red headscarf caused the biggest surprise in the latest sale of Russian art at Dr Fischer (28% buyer’s premium) in Heilbronn, Germany.

Presenting, as always, huge numbers of lots – some 2800 this time, an auction held by Reiss & Sohn (19% buyer’s premium) produced some notable prices.