UK

The first day of the December 10-12 sale at Adam Partridge in Macclesfield, Cheshire, included a 2in (5cm) high Fabergé jewelled agate model of a cockerel or rooster.

An auction claiming to offer personal items belonging to JRR Tolkien was cancelled after doubts were raised over authenticity.

So-called ‘talc pictures’ or ‘metamorphoses’ were fashionable amusements in European courts in the second half of the 17th century.

A round up of news from three London dealers

Sales ranging from enamel signs to petroliana and breweriana generate a booming market

Illustrator famous for helping to bring alive the beloved bear preferred his other commissions

A first edition, first issue of the Great ‘He’ Bible sold in York for £23,000 hammer was bought by Norfolk book dealer Simon Finch, it has emerged.

Bizarrely, Ralph Fremlin – a devout Christian who founded Fremlin’s Brewery in Maidstone, Kent, in 1861 – was anti-drinking.

Despite the economic headwinds, many businesses have been moving forward with fresh ventures

Market freshness and good provenance have always been key components in the Old Master sector, and the latest series of auctions in this category underlined how heavily dependent the market remains on the supply of works that have these qualities.

A recent sale of Books, Documents & Ephemera at Stride & Son in Chichester included this 3½ x 2½in (9 x 6cm) brass and enamel cigarette case.

With the first hardback Philosopher’s Stone at stratospheric sums, the soft cover value is rising steadily

A Victorian full-sized lay figure owned by the sculptor James Butler (1931-2022) sold for £4000 at the Hansons (26.5% buyer’s premium) saleroom in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Buffeted by regulatory changes and economic uncertainty, the art and antiques trade still manages to find a way to conduct its business and break records

Roy Raftery is a gaming cards dealer with Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s

Despite its name, a new exhibition, 'Ghost Objects: Summoning Leighton’s Lost Collection', at Leighton House in west London is not, in fact, a séance.

Extensive collection also came with impressive records of purchase such as original dealer invoices

Over his career, the Flemish artist Hendrick van Balen (1573-1632) collaborated with a number of other artists, not least Rubens. Another was Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625).

A group of jewellery and art specialists headed to Grays Antiques in Mayfair for ‘champagne and macarons’ to celebrate the start of the Christmas season.