Latest News Articles by Cecile Shannon
Poignant message tells passengers of Titanic tragedy
27 August 2024Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) Summer Auction in Dorchester featured a remarkable notice issued by the White Star Line to passengers on board the RMS Olympic after the sinking of the Titanic.
Quaker antiquary and family put together an extraordinary collection
27 August 2024The first section of the Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) Historic Textiles & Antiques auction on July 26 contained 33 lots of textiles from the collection of the Quaker antiquary Martha Spriggs and her descendants.
Pin ball wizards in play
27 August 2024A recent timed online sale at Bleasdales (20% buyer’s premium) featured a couple of pin balls that performed well.
More orphanage samplers in demand as hand-worked textiles prove sought-after
27 August 2024Tennants’ Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale held on August 16 provided many hammer highlights.
Original historical dresses spotted by eagle-eyed bidders
27 August 2024A pale blue and white striped garment offered at Martin & Pole’s (22% buyer’s premium) General Auction on August 7 was simply described as an “antique silk dress, appears in a photograph worn by Esther Palmer in around 1925”.
Olympic liner lights emerge from a Durham house
27 August 2024Eight original light fittings from the RMS Olympic which were discovered in Durham attracted strong interest at an auction held just up the road in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Sampler made in Bristol fashion
27 August 2024Estimated at £60-100, a late 19th century sampler sold via thesaleroom.com for £4600 at Rogers Jones (22% buyer’s premium) in Colwyn Bay.
Medal gave thanks for Titanic rescue mission
27 August 2024Noonans’ (24% buyer’s premium) sale in London on July 17 offered a rare Carpathia and Titanic bronze medal.
Late 19th century Polar exploration programme breaks the ice at auction
23 August 2024A remarkable late Victorian lecture programme on early polar exploration by the Norwegian explorer Dr Fridtjof Nansen has been discovered at Chaucer Auctions in Folkestone.
Rare set of Glaswegian silver spoons bring strong demand at Lyon & Turnbull
22 August 2024A remarkable set of six 17th century Scottish provincial silver trefid spoons drew strong competition at an auction in Edinburgh this week.
Boy on tortoise comes out of its shell at £18,000
19 August 2024A rare Royal Doulton prototype model of a ‘Boy on a Tortoise’ found in a modest house in Rickmansworth has sold for an impressive £18,000.
Bidders find their marbles at auction in East Sussex
19 August 2024A lot catalogued as ‘Vintage toys, including marbles, rifle, Marklin spinners and butterflies, etc’ that appeared in a Burstow & Hewett auction estimated at £40-70 rolled out a surprise.
A lot of specs appeal thanks to an unusual 'banjo' case
19 August 2024Catalogued simply as “a cased pair of spectacles, 19th century, the case in shagreen, along with three magnifying glasses”, an understated lot estimated at £30-50 fell between a portrait miniature of Napoleon and a set of 1950s headlights.
Wartime propaganda posters seek to persuade collectors to make a bid
19 August 2024'Freedom is in Peril Defend it with all your Might' was a British propaganda poster published by the Ministry of Information.
Ashtray ensures materials don’t go to waste
19 August 2024A whimsical Art Deco YZ cherry amber faturan nut bird ashtray, manufactured by Henry Howell & Co and retailed by Dunhill, drew eye-catching competition at a recent Gloucestershire sale.
Private collection of Royal correspondence up for auction at Young's
15 August 2024A collection of over 60 lots of royal correspondence from the private collection of the late Gerald and Angela Lascelles is coming up at Young’s Auctions in Farnham on September 14.
Penzance saleroom Lay's stage inaugural studio pottery auction
14 August 2024Lay’s inaugural 'Studio Pottery Sale' is due to take place on September 6 in Penzance.
Rare Royal Doulton prototype of a 'Boy on a Tortoise' sells at Sussex auction
12 August 2024A rare Royal Doulton prototype model of a 'Boy on a Tortoise' was found in a modest house in Mill End in Rickmansworth.
Lock from Florence Nightingale encapsulates the diverse lots in a North Yorkshire auction
12 August 2024One of the more unusual items on offer at Tennants’ (20% buyer’s premium) Summer Fine Sale was a lock of hair from the 19th century nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). It was thought to have been cut in 1883 when she was 63 years old.
Ichthyosaur surfaces out of Devon rock for an auction debut
12 August 2024A finely preserved and virtually complete Ichthyosaur dug up on the famous ‘Jurassic Coast’ is being offered for the first time at auction this autumn.