Auction Reports

The familiar heart symbol - that today is ‘read’ as love - made its first appearance as a rebus in the late Medieval era.

This 8in (19cm) high vase may belong to a select group of Ming cloisonné enamel vases dating to the Xuande period (1426-35).

A Rolex used by Spanish sailor and scientist Vital Alsar Ramirez (1933-2020) during his Amazon and Atlantic expeditions in 1977 sold for £10,000 at Halls (24% buyer’s premium).

The distinctive Anglo-Japanese tables designed by the architect GW Godwin in the later part of the 19th century are known as Smallhythe tables, after the example found in Smallhythe Place in Kent which was the home of the actress Ellen Terry.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) took great delight in making cameo appearances in the films he produced and directed.

Giles Grendey (1696-1780) was a well known English cabinetmaker with a workshop in Clerkenwell, a member of the Joiners company rising to Master.

Embroidered samplers can appeal to buyers for all kinds of different reasons.

Country house contents, global interest and a packed room of bidders - what more could an auctioneer wish for?

This stained glass panel painted with two female nudes against a watery background flanked by the words 'FAR' and 'END' to the sides and 'SALVE' at the bottom was keenly pursued at Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) in Cheshire on February 28.

The latest edition of The Oak Interior auction held by Bishop & Miller (25% buyer’s premium) in Stowmarket on February 28-29 majored heavily on metalwork.

This large rectangular earthenware trough, measuring 20in (21cm) across the handles, is part of the range of flower containers made by the Fulham Pottery for the society florist Constance Spry (1886-1960) from the mid-1930s to the 1950s.

The Clarice Cliff, Art Deco & Design auction at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on March 20 included this rare 10in (25cm) vase, shape no 375, decorated in the Archaic pattern mirroring a capital design from a temple in Luxor.

Three-hundred lot sale of the Art Deco classic shows signs of the market returning to 1990s boom time

Two sales of the classic furniture include items featuring direct family history

An auction house has existed in the Dore & Rees premises, a Victorian gothic building on Vicarage Street, Frome, since 1868.

“He stored everything like Russian dolls, everything packed away into something else."

Ceramics historian cited this item to show how two types of decoration were used in combination

In 1969 the Rolling Stones were ready to go touring again after a gap of more than two years. Featuring a new guitarist, the 17-date tour in the US began on November 7.

A professional diver snapped up a up a vintage US Navy diving helmet that surfaced in the middle of the English countryside.

A football medal sold at a Cheshire auction house was so early in date that it was only the 13th time the FA Cup final had been contested, the game was played at Kennington Oval and the opposition was a Scottish team.