Ceramics

Italian design is in the spotlight at Quittenbaum in Munich on March 19.

Among the technically most complex pieces ever created in the porcelain manufacture in Meissen were the so-called 'Schneeballen-Vasen' (snowball vases).

A faience dinner service that belonged to the famous French novelist George Sand sold for €7000 (£5980) at the Rouillac (24% buyer’s premium inc tax) auction on February 10.

The Royal Doulton figure Guy Fawkes designed by Charles Noke was issued as HN98 from 1918.

Portrait of monarch impresses as château of the Comtes de Marcellus delivers treasures to auction

The most eagerly contested lot at the Echoes Antiques & Auction Gallery (23% buyer’s premium) sale on January 23 was a Japanese cloisonné miniature teapot bearing the mark of the great Namikama Yasuyuki.

The murder of William Weare in the Hertfordshire village of Radlett in 1823 has been called the first trial by newspaper. It was also the first subject in the ‘crime and punishment’ series of earthenwares that proved curiously popular in the Victorian era.

Extensive array offered by Lyon & Turnbull concentrates on the first Scottish period of production

A small 8in cast bronze relief or architectural element c.1900 designed by Art Nouveau and Art Deco master René Lalique was offered in Florida.

An 18th century Native American trade axe pipe linked to the great Shawnee chief and warrior Tecumseh (1768-1813) was the runaway performer when the collection of Ohio dealer and entrepreneur Bruce Knight was dispersed in the first days of the New Year.

A staple at American barber shops of the 19th and early 20th centuries was the occupational shaving mug.

This smiling tabby cat formed part of an extensive collection of Scottish Wemyss Ware sold at Lyon & Turnbull.

When Australian auction house Artvisory offers the Robert Burke collection on February 19-20 in Melbourne it will launch around 300 lots of prime 18th century English porcelain onto the market.

A lampshade painted by Quentin Bell sold for a remarkable £4700 when Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) dispersed the residual collection of Michael Evans in Macclesfield.

Roseberys’ (26/25/20% buyer’s premium) final Fine & Decorative sale of the year included this recent charity shop donation: a Nantgarw cabinet plate decorated by Thomas Pardoe (1770-1823).

Tributes have poured in for the late ceramics specialist and Antiques Roadshow expert Henry Sandon who died aged 95 at the end of last year.

Latest ceramics sales demonstrate how Martinware demand has moved on beyond Wally Birds