Auction Reports

The Wurlitzer Company was founded in the US in 1856 and the Centennial 2000 jukebox model was created to commemorate the centenary anniversary.

A recent sale at Halls (24% buyer’s premium) in Shrewsbury included an exceptional Swiss music box: a Sublime Harmony orchestral music box by George Baker & Co, Geneva.

Extensive contents of Cumbrian castle take three days to sell in North Yorkshire auction

In the last ATG (No 2731) we featured an Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football sold on January 22 at Truro Auction Centre for £4200 and mentioned others sold at Hansons in 2022.

So much silver has sold based solely on melt value of late. One wonders exactly how many decent antiques and collectables will have been lost once the bubble has deflated.

Judging by recent auctions, once live acts in the circus are now thrilling eager collectors via memorabilia.

John Short, a well-known collector in the Bristol area, amassed over 50,000 autographs in his lifetime. He began obtaining signatures at stage doors in the 1960s right up until his death in 2022.

Latest sale of props from renowned company features several surprises such as Spanish revivalist chairs

The ancient game of Royal Shrovetide Football has been played in the Derbyshire town of Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday since the 17th century.

Incomparable! Delightful! The one and only! Miss Show Business Judy Garland’s All Star Variety Show – as billed at the time – opened at the Dominion Theatre in London’s Tottenham Court Road in October 17, 1957, for a four-and-a-half week run.

‘Coal’ is a dirty word in today’s world of increasingly clean energy but in terms of a model offered at auction it can still generate a strong price.

This array of jewels formed part of the first tranche of a remarkable private collection sold by Catherine Southon (23% buyer’s premium) in Chislehurst.

Liner china – ceramics associated with shipping lines and the golden age of maritime travel – can occasionally throw up surprising results.

This pair of late Georgian silver spurs are hallmarked for London 1812 and carry the maker’s mark JA, probably for the specialist buckle maker John Atkins.

A handsome 19th century kingwood and ormolu decanter box offered by Hutchinson Scott (25% buyer’s premium) in Skipton, North Yorkshire was of particular note for its armorial and an inscription to the lock reading Maharaja Duleep Singh.

Special sale focuses on the death of Nelson, the first commoner given a state funeral

Following equivalent sales in November 2024 and May 2025, Dore & Rees (25% buyer’s premium) in Frome was again offering Japanese objects at the end of last year from the wider collection of Asian works of art formed over more than half a century by Eva and Aubrey Sweet.

Demand for Japanese works was first hit by the so-called ‘Lost Decade’ that followed the collapse of the Japanese economy in 1991. However, changes in fashion, taste and legislation have also impacted prices.

Vase is thought to be from a group that share a provenance to the 1908 Japan-British Exhibition

A recent sale at Whittons (21% buyer’s premium) in Honiton, Devon, included this Meiji or Taisho (1912-26) vase by the Ando Company.