Auctions

An intaglio ring became the second of the ‘lost’ Marlborough jewels to surface at auction in 2019 when it sold for £36,000 (plus 22.5% premium) in Cambridge.

Guangzhou bracket example leads a selection of stand-out timepieces sold in the regions.

This 12½in (31cm) Royal Copenhagen blanc de chine vase offered by Newcastle’s Anderson & Garland (22% buyer’s premium) on December 5 has an underglaze ‘three waves’ mark dating to c.1870-90.

Among the selection of instructional games and pastimes featured at Forum Auctions (25/12/12% buyer’s premium) on November 21 two of the more successful lots were published by Edward Wallis.

A copy of the 1892 Olympic Manifesto made an auction record for sports memorabilia when it was hammered down for $7.5m (£5.73m).

Holding for 22 years the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing, the great Cunard liner RMS Mauretania is a magical name for collectors of maritime memorabilia.

Alongside two key early maps of colonial North America (see News, ATG No 2422) the sale at Ramsay Cornish (20% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on December 7 was distinguished by five-figure bids for two rare items.

Michael Faraday’s laboratory notebook from 1851 includes a series of diagrams illustrating what he called ‘magnetic lines of force’ – the magnetic field lines that are central to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.

For better or worse, Brexit is finally set to proceed and will be a major factor in the year ahead – as will timed auctions, anti-money laundering rules, the looming prospect of a near-total ivory trade ban, antiquities challenges and a new buying ethos based on cultural sensitivities, changes at major fairs and a growing ‘green’ movement.

“I will always be a painter of beaches,” declared Eugène Boudin (1824-98) in 1864.

This Neoclassical drawing by the Swedish sculptor Johann Tobias Sergel (1740-1814) proved very popular in the opening Old Master works on paper section of the mixed-discipline traditional sale held by the Hôtel des Ventes de Monte-Carlo 25% buyer’s premium) on November 27 in Monaco.

Egypt views stand out among a selection also involving many other worldwide works

Bid to £3000 at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) on November 20 was a rare and early game.

Tucked inside an18th century treen model of a ship’s hull is a historic note reading This was taken out of a writing bureau belonging to Lord Collingwood. I saw the bureau and know its history.

Depiction of Emperor Shah Jahan is thought to have been prepared for his official chronicle.

Matthew Barton (25% buyer’s premium) attracted international interest in this early-19th century German gold snuff box at his November 20 London sale.

A recent sale at C&T in Tunbridge Wells included an unexpected bid of £1700 (estimate £50-70) for three unopened Airfix models.

While individuals and pairs from the suite of five bronze cricketers by Joseph Durham (1814-77) are occasionally seen on the rostrum, it is rare to find all five appearing together.