Germany

In his day, Johann Heinrich von Dannecker was one of the most prominent German Neoclassical sculptors. He was born as the son of a stable-hand to the Duke of Württemberg, but went on to become the duke’s court sculptor.

A freeform table from the 1950s was the surprise winner at the design sale of Schops Turowski (23% buyer’s premium) in Krefeld on May 9.

A portrait of a 16th century Protestant theologian and reformer surfaced at a sale at Ginhart (23% buyer’s premium) in Tegernsee, some 35 miles south of the Bavarian capital Munich.

The Parisian clockmaker Henri Lioret (1848-1938) entered the market for ‘talking machines’ in an unconventional fashion – his first patented device of 1893 was a talking doll.

Painting went through lengthy ownership saga before being returned to family and then sold.

One of the central attractions in Rome is the Piazza Navona and the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers). It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1650 at the behest of Pope Innocent X.

Rare work on absolute geometry among highlights of mammoth German ‘lockdown’ sale

For centuries, China was a rewarding market for European clock and watchmakers who created extravagant timepieces for their Oriental clientele.

Among the interesting lots sold at Scheublein (26% buyer’s premium), in Munich on April 24 (a sale originally scheduled for March 20), was a 'Still Life with Basket of Fruit and Flowers'.

Over nearly four decades, a collector in Copenhagen acquired works of art to furnish and decorate a patrician residence in the Danish capital. Part of his eclectic collection is on sale at Lempertz in Cologne on May 29-30.

Work thought to be by studio assistant is regarded as accessible alternative to famous master

As a rule, musical boxes, which were the favoured mode of reproducing music by mechanical means in the salons of Europe and the US during the 19th century, were more or less portable mechanisms.

Top lot in a recent sale conducted by Galerie Bassenge (23% buyer’s premium) of Berlin, at €140,000 (£121,800), was a 1687 first issue of Newton’s 'Principia mathematica….'

Anyone walking past the Palais de Chaillot in Paris may have noticed a large sculpture of an architect on the edifice of the north wing. It is the work of the French artist Jean-René Debarre who was born in 1907.

Several surprising prices emerged at Geble (19% buyer’s premium) in Radolfzell on Lake Constance on April 25.

This late 19th century surcoat or longgua, finely embroidered in silk and gold thread with eight dragon roundels, was originally worn by a high-ranking woman at the Chinese Imperial court.

Specialist auction house sells early versions hailing from the US

A luxurious watch with a British royal connection went under the hammer last month at Cortrie (20% buyer’s premium) in Hamburg.