Features

A collector interview with author and expert David Petty

The rarity of an unusual saleroom visitor - and its original condition - was confirmed after research by Bonhams’ arms and armour department.

A pair of pistols Napoleon Bonaparte supposedly intended to use on himself after defeat sold for €1.69m (£1.4m) including buyer’s premium at auction house Osenat in Fontainebleau, France.

Edged weapons have been a strong feature of the market recently and involve a wide range of ages, styles and countries

On July 2, Vienna auction house Tiberius (27% buyer’s premium) sold the inventory of Laudon Castle, a privately owned, moated baroque residence on the outskirts of the Austrian capital.

A private collection of militaria and weapons belonging to a proud Scotsman, Douglas Anderson, comes for sale at Anderson & Garland in Newcastle in the autumn.

The much-anticipated auction of the personal collection of Tobias Jellinek (1934-2023) was held on the afternoon of June 19 at Bishop & Miller (25% buyer’s premium) in East Anglia.

The original Skegness Is So Bracing showing the ‘Jolly Fisherman’ dancing along a beach has become one of the most famous railway posters in the world.

The survival rate for 16th century and earlier furniture is much lower than that of 17th century examples.

The 1968 Mexico Summer Olympics were the first Games to be staged in Latin America.

Despite being buffeted by the winds of fashion, period oak furniture still holds considerable appeal for homeowners thanks to innate appeal and timeless quality, as recent auction results indicate

This William III bronze wool weight cast with the royal arms is more than twice the size of most, weighing in at 14lb.

Roman Cieślewicz (1930-96) and Jan Lenica (1928-2001) were both founders of the Polish School of Posters, the influential and creative artistic movement that sprang up under strict Soviet rule.

Furniture and objects associated with a rustic or farmhouse aesthetic have gained popularity in recent decades.

A preserved and framed collection with a great provenance dispersed at auction showed the wider strength of a market often dominated by the familiar stars

Carved wooden sculptural fragments are a market strength.

This table lighter offered by Great Western Auctions (24% buyer’s premium) of Glasgow in the Summer Two Day Fine Art & Antiques Auction had marks for the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co, London 1916, making it one of the earliest of its type.

A Henry VIII silver and parcel gilt apostle spoon, stamped to the stem with a distinctive maker’s mark of a heart in a conforming heart and dated London 1532, caused quite a stir when it appeared at Canterbury Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium).

A striking pair of William IV silver open salts by Paul Storr (London 1835) came for sale at Chorley’s (28.2% buyer’s premium inc VAT) latest biannual sale of Fine Jewellery, Silver, Gold and Watches.

A rare example of Norfolk Charles I silver – a seal-top spoon made by the patriarch of the famous Haslewood silversmithing dynasty – sold for £3600 at a recent sale of Silver and Objects of Vertu at Chiswick Auctions (26% buyer’s premium) in London.