Features

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Speedmaster Professional as a space exploration tool in 1997, Omega created the Missions Collection.

The highlight of NASA’s 1965 Gemini IV mission was the first space walk by an American. As astronaut Ed White floated free outside the spacecraft for approximately 20 minutes in June 3 he wore an Omega Speedmaster Ref 105.003 strapped by Velcro to the outside of the left-side sleeve of his G4C space suit.

This George III Sheffield plated tea machine from c.1790 comprises a hot water urn with a domed cover and a telescoping finial with steam vent, as well as a pair of tea urns, all engraved with the Clan Colville crest and motto 'Oblier ne puis'.

On September 12 Brunk Auctions of Asheville, North Carolina, is holding a single-owner sale comprising the estate of William N Banks Junior from his Georgia property, Bankshaven.

This Machine Man lithographed tinplate Japanese battery powered robot is the rarest of the post war group of so called ‘Gang of Five’ robots made by Masudaya.

Included in Hindman’s September 15 sale of Jewellery in Chicago will be a group of pieces designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. Among them is this green beryl and diamond ‘Bird on a Rock’ brooch.

A two-day sale of works from an Atlanta estate home, White Oaks, will take place at Ahlers & Ogletree in Atlanta, Georgia on September 12-13 featuring a wide range of European and American fine and decorative art.

This three-piece painted cast-iron garden seating set dated to the third quarter of the 19th century is one of the lots from the Collection of A Connecticut Gentleman that is to be offered for sale by Freeman’s of Philadelphia, on September 15.

On October 6 Susanin’s in Chicago will be offering a 132-lot auction of British and American studio ceramics from the Estate of Patricia Nicol Barnes featuring works by a wide range of different artists.

This 11in (28cm) high French automaton black marble and gilt bronze ‘quarter deck’ clock has a figure of a sailor and a captain at the stern.

Although hampered by Covid-19 and the ongoing issues surrounding imports of Chinese works of art, the September series of Asian art auctions in New York appears – like most sales in the US – to be remarkably unscathed by recent geopolitical events.

This Mintons Pâte-sur-Pâte plaque, dated to c.1900, decorated by Marc-Louis Solon will feature in Weschler’s Capital Collections auction to be held in Rockville, Maryland, on September 18.

This lustre vase decorated by Richard Joyce for Pilkington Royal Lancastrian dates from c.1915.

Pictured below are three lots of Oceanic art that proved to be in much demand during UK sales held in August.

One of the highest prices in the large 650-plus lot American Indian and Ethnographic Arts auction held by Skinner (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Massachusetts was the $4000 (£3075) paid against a $400-600 guide for a trio of Eskimo baskets woven from baleen.

This 4ft (1.2m) long Tongan Aku-Tau ironwood war club will feature in a sale of Militaria and Ethnographica to be held by Tennants in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on September 4.

A number of single-owner collections feature in Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury’s September 22 Tribal Art and Antiquities auction. These include the Michael G Johnson collection which makes up over 100 lots in the North American section.

Organisers of the Parcours des Mondes decided to go ahead with this edition instead of heading online – but only after careful deliberation

Included in the African section of the African and Oceanic Art and Antiquities auction to be held by Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh on September 16, this 10in (25cm) high Lega mask is from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This beaded hide Sioux Elk Dreamers’ Society tobacco bag is one of the pieces of beadwork from the Robert Jerich collection that is included in Cowan’s September 18 American Indian Art auction in Cincinnati.