International (print edition)

Long before it became the signature for the 1955-62 television show Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the director had perfected his self-portrait: an economic sketch of his profile rendered in just a couple of lines. Hitchcock would regularly draw and sign them for fans.

American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer Joel Grey (b.1932) is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the master of ceremonies in both the Broadway and film versions of the musical Cabaret.

A hand-coloured engraving of an Anglo- American naval battle in 1779 hammered for $5200 against a $1000-1500 guide at Swann Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium) in New York City.

Bidder was determined to secure items from their old house

Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-89) made his name creating rococo pastel portraits of the European elite. However, in his formative years as a painter he had harboured loftier artistic ambitions as a history painter.

Sigismund III Vasa (1566-1632) was a man of many parts. His father was King John III of Sweden; his mother Catherine was the daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland.

Vase and clock produced around the same time nevertheless display significant design variation

The distinctive 'Portrait of a Lady' by the Hungarian artist Imre Goth was star of the show at an auction at Mehlis (24% buyer’s premium) in Plauen, Germany.

On numerous occasions, Théodore Deck, who has often been called the father of Art Nouveau ceramics, collaborated with the sculptor and designer Joseph Chéret, brother of the painter and lithographer Jules Chéret.

In 1896, Vilmós Zsolnay, director of the eponymous ceramics factory in the south-western Hungarian city of Pécs in Hungary, presented his newly invented Eosin lustre glaze at the National Millenium Exhibition in Budapest.

At a time when many of his painter colleagues were drawn to Italy for their artistic inspiration, Johann Moritz Rugendas, who was born in Augsburg in 1802, headed for more distant lands.

Having produced tableware for over 25 years, the Bavarian porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal established an artistic department in 1908.

When Martin Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus design school, set out the prerequisites for its products, he reduced it to the formulas ‘practical, enduring, affordable, beautiful’, and ‘form follows function’.

An unusual piece of very early Meissen is coming up for sale at Metz in Heidelberg on October 18.

Provenance to a noble family and market freshness generate impressive results for rarities

The kumete whakairo (presentation bowl) shown here is one of three large and historically significant figure-supported bowls carved between 1865-85 by master carver Patoromu Tamatea.

The best-selling book in Australian history, with more than 30 million copies purchased is 'The Thorn Birds', a novel by Colleen McCullough published in 1977.

Portrait of first governor of Western Australia stands out in a 745-lot auction offering colonial-era items

Auction records are tumbling this year in Australia. Strong property prices, a buoyant stock market and a government with a clear mandate – after a landslide victory for Labor in May – are all contributing to confidence among buyers.

Robert Steele and Company was a partnership formed in 1816 in Greenock, Scotland, between shipbuilder Robert Steele (1745-1830) and his two sons, James and Robert, that became associated with the term ‘Clydebuilt’ ships.