This portrait by George Romney of Lt-Col William Calderwood, above, is the headline lot from an auction held by Acreman Street Antiques & Interiors in Sherborne, Dorset, on November 29.
There are two known versions of this painting. This oil, signed bottom right and in its original frame, is thought to be the original that was commissioned by a fellow officer, Col Robert Pringle, in 1785 and later sold. Two years after Calderwood’s death in 1789, Pringle commissioned a second portrait of him, which was sent to Calderwood’s sister and remains with the family in Scotland.
Alex Kidson, author of George Romney, 1734-1802, wrote a letter of authentication in 2018 – to be included with this painting that carries an estimate of £8000-12,000.
From an English private collection formed in the 1990s, a very large Han dynasty (206BC-20AD) pottery figure of a horse with amber lead glaze carries an estimate of £12,000-15,000 at Ma San Auctions in Bath on November 28. It stands an impressive 3ft 4in (1.04m) tall.
In July 1863, a large crowd gathered outside the front gates of Trinity College Dublin to watch as the Earl of Carlisle, the lord lieutenant of Ireland, pulled a green drape from a sculpture to reveal a full-size statue of the poet, dramatist and essayist Oliver Goldsmith.
John Henry Foley (1818-74), the Irish sculptor of the work, had first produced this electroplated bronze maquette that had been shown at the Royal Irish Academy. In January 1861, ‘in consequence of the universal admiration’ it received, ‘that eminent sculptor [was] directed to commence the execution of the large statute.’
This one-off piece, made without foundry marks or Foley’s signature, has an estimate of €6000-8000 at Whyte’s in Dublin on December 2
