UK

In our continuing series looking through the keyhole of ‘bricks and mortar’ shops in 2017, ATG talks to Nathan Ve-Ly of Timeless Furniture.

An extraordinary family archive of engineering and architectural drawings and designs for the projects of Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849), offered in 14 lots, sold for a total of £224,500 in a Bonhams (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) sale of November 15.

Angela Hardy is the owner of Burlington, specialising in 19th and 20th century British and European paintings. She next exhibits at ADFL’s Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair (January 4-7).

Employing a translation made in the 16th century by William Adlington, the 1924 Ashendene edition of The Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius was printed in the press’ proprietary Subiaco type in an edition of just 124 copies, of which 16 were printed on vellum but only 13 offered for sale.

The theme of death was of particular interest to the Italian industrialist Giancarlo Beltrame (1925-2011).

Tis the season to sell Victoria Crosses… three have come up at auction recently and posted strong results, including a world record.

Robilant + Voena’s show, 'Splendour and Magnificence: Art from the European Courts', features 25 Old Master paintings, sculptures and works of decorative art.

Gadgets fascinate collector Maurice Collins but wartime posters on display at a January fair also proclaim his social history interest.

Modern and contemporary art gallery Belgrave St Ives is in the midst of its annual winter show, offering prints, drawings and three-dimensional works in its two adjacent Cornwall shops.

The protocols around selling antique firearms and ordnance are increasingly strict. We talk to auctioneer Angus Ashworth about the perils that even an ex-army man can face.

We know how it usually goes with most stand-out Victoria Crosses offered at auction: Lord Ashcroft buys them and they go on display at his gallery in the Imperial War Museum in London. But the record for a VC sold at auction, which has recently been set at London saleroom Morton & Eden, actually went to another bidder with very deep pockets – but thankfully for medals enthusiasts, someone else who is looking to put it on public view.

A child’s plate that celebrates a performing elephant which was bizarrely accused of murdering her keeper will be an unusual highlight at Towy Events’ last antiques and fleamarket of the year.

Amid current stories in the media of drastic Royal Navy cutbacks, it is difficult to imagine a sizeable task force of British ships sailing thousands of miles to fight a war. But in 1982 HMS Brilliant (F90) was part of that fleet heading to the South Atlantic to take on, and beat, the Argentinians who had invaded the Falkland Islands.

The latest Old Master auctions in London gave encouragement to the sector as keen competition came for a noticeably higher number of works pitched at relatively attractive levels.

Tom Smith (1823-69) was the man who made Christmas go with a bang. His entrepreneurial invention of the Christmas cracker delighted Victorian families with the sheer variety of the crackers’ contents as well as the decorative boxes they came in.

Marine and scientific specialist Charles Miller (20% buyer’s premium) featured several U-boat-related lots from various owners in his November 7 sale at the west London auction hub of 25 Blythe Road.

The £1.1m paid for this Graff yellow diamond ring at Fellows on December 7 makes it the top price achieved in the UK regions this year.

Wiltshire auction house Henry Aldridge & Son (17.5% buyer’s premium) has established a reputation for Titanic memorabilia thanks to two specialist sales a year. Thanks to a lot sold in the November 11 auction, the Devizes firm also has a handy sideline in early photographs of Tibet.

Update (July 2019): auctions resumed at Bloomsbury in 2018 following Gurr Johns' purchase of Dreweatts and Bloomsbury in 2017. In February 2019 it expanded the number of sales at its London office at 16-17 Pall Mall. The original story is below.

A full saleroom and a sell-out are not necessarily features you associate with traditional fields such as English drinking glasses but there are always exceptions.