Auctions

Sotheby’s Hong Kong’s Asian Art Week was led by the earliest extant court painting by the Italian Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766).

Portraits of the third and fourth prime ministers of Great Britain are among the highlights of a fine collection of British portraiture that comes for sale at Sworders on May 19.

Ahead of a new exhibition at a London gallery, Alex Capon takes a closer look at the renowned Romantic artist’s later work and the market that now exists via auction houses and dealerships

Our selection of lots from nine upcoming auctions

Prices for Hornby 0 Gauge clockwork railway toys have been rather flat for quite a few years now.

Fine collection of British modern novels amassed over decades includes earliest editions with dust jackets

Arabel and her anarchic pet raven, Mortimer, were first introduced in 1974 on the children’s television show Jackanory.

The modest reserve of €2500 for the 13in (34cm) Roman marble torso of a seated man from the 1st or 2nd century left the bidders at Dr Eder (25% buyer’s premium) in Cologne with plenty of upward scope.

A selection of upcoming highlights at UK, US and European auctions

On how many different journeys can an old map take you? We spotted this 1930 novelty map of London which sold for £1250 at Sportingold in Barnsley in February this year and were so intrigued by its content that we could not resist researching it further

From an elephant gun team to a double-decker and general on a hobby horse, good prices are still paid for collectable toys.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

Kosuge (Kosuge Toy Industrial Co Ltd), with the trademark KSG in a diamond, was Matsuzo Kosuge.

It is now 10 years since we started Forum Auctions.

Gustave Vichy was born in 1839 to a Parisian watch and clock maker Antoine Michel who, along with his wife, set up the Vichy company in 1862 with the aim of building and selling clocks, mechanical objects and toys.

In recent sales at Artcurial, Bailly, Beurret and Widner (25% buyer’s premium) in Basel, works of art from the renowned collection of Lotar Neumann in Gingins have been consigned by his descendants and achieved notable results.

ATG’s pick of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com, featuring both the highest prices over-estimate and the top prices paid online.