Auctions

Combining fine 18th and 19th work by major silversmiths with rarities of scholarly interest, the comprehensively catalogued silver sale at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) appealed to specialists across the market spectrum.

Racing along to a double-estimate £2400, this tinplate clockwork Tri-ang Magic Midget made by Line Bros in 1933, led the field at the 450-lot toys sale at Gildings (15% buyer’s premium) in Market Harborough on June 24.

The recent sale of a single-owner collection of Moorcroft pottery by Kingham & Orme in Evesham demonstrated two distinct faces of the Staffordshire factory.

A rare variant of the classic Second World War commando knife has sold for 200 times its lower estimate at a North Yorkshire auction.

The painting dubbed the ‘Toulouse Caravaggio’ that was snubbed by the Louvre in Paris could now go on show in a museum after a private sale.

From the 18th century onwards, the city of Birmingham was a major centre of the British gun-making industry.

Christie’s marathon 12-hour auction of Indian jewellery and works of art from the Al Thani family held in New York included the finest collection of courtly weapons to come to auction in well over a generation.

Scantily catalogued as a Georgian/Victorian micro-mosaic plaque depicting a dove, a classic example of the pieces produced by Italian craftsmen and beloved by wealthy Britons on the Grand Tour was equally appreciated by bidders at Stroud Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).

Published in Venice in November 1494, a copy of Luca Pacioli’s 'Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proporzioni et proporzionalità…' offered in a recent US sale was granted the rare privilege in the book auction world of having a catalogue all of its own.

Morphy Auctions’ latest Fine & Decorative Arts sale held in Denver, Pennsylvania included this unusual 7½in (19cm) Russian silver-mounted pottery vase.

The origin of ‘Tudor’ globe pomanders is still under discussion. It is generally thought that most originate from northern Europe but were probably made by itinerant craftsmen in a number of countries.

In the spring of 1940, Eric Ravilious (1903-42) spent three weeks in Grimsby during his role as a war artist.

Beyond the Horizon was the title given to the remarkable Mopelia collection of atlases and travel books offered in a June 5 sale in London.

Percy Kelly (1918-93) was so averse to the limelight that only a few of his paintings were ever shown publicly during his life. But a major retrospective in 2015 and a birth centenary last year has helped raise the Cumbrian artist’s profile – and his prices.