This English Bilston patch box is estimated at £300-500 in Authenticated Internet Auctions’ May 25 sale in London. Made to store beauty patches, it dates to c.1800 and, on the lid, depicts a sailor’s return with his maid on his lap.
authenticatedinternetauctions.com
A run of 37 Penny Dreadfuls telling the story of Australian bank robber Ned Kelly is going under the hammer at Comic Book Auctions’ online sale ending on May 28.
One of Australia’s most infamous folk heroes/villains, Kelly was a bushranger of Irish descent who fled to the Bush in his teens after his mother was arrested for aiding and abetting in the attempted murder of a policeman. The Kelly gang was born and embarked on a career of robbery and murder, culminating in the government of Victoria proclaiming them outlaws and giving anyone the right to shoot the gang on sight.
The gang were eventually killed, except for Kelly. He was captured when their attempt to ambush a police train was exposed. Despite support for his reprieve, Kelly was tried, sentenced and hanged in Melbourne Gaol on November 11, 1880, aged 25.
The comics, which date from 1887, are offered with the original tooled cover and frontispiece. Estimate £400-450.
This Tunbridge Ware napkin ring, c.1880, is priced £89 from Amherst Antiques at The Edenbridge Galleries in Kent. The piece is inlaid with eight mosaic panels.
Sworders’ Decorative Arts sale on June 13 features this oak desk, attributed to the English furniture maker Arthur Romney Green.
Measuring 3ft 6in x 2ft 6in (1.07m x 76cm), it has an arrangement of five drawers, raised on trestle ends. Estimate £300-500.
