The earliest collectors of firearms were probably monarchs intent on amassing armouries to demonstrate their wealth and power. They also became patrons, employing expert craftsmen to create better and ...

Stolen books and letters valued at more than $3m recovered after 35 years thanks to book dealers. A group of rare books and a bound collection of 37 love letters written by the Ro ...

Latest movers and shakers including expansion for Devon auction house and changes at the top of Stanley Gibbons. A selection of updates from across the auctioneering world ...

Silver spoons for the dining table have been around since antiquity - a much longer history than the table fork, which did not come into general use until the 18 th century. By this time spoons had ...

"In their view, we Londoners know little about God, and nothing about pottery". Royal Doulton's rise from London makers of domestic stonewares to an internationally-recognised Staffordshire Potteries ...

They did this to avoid the perils of travel and (after 1784) to escape paying duty in a region where a heathy distain for the Hanoverians persisted well into the 19 th century. Currently some 30 ...

Unknown memento mori pendant discovered thanks to a 17th century portrait comes to Treasure House Fair. The memento mori pendant depicted in a celebrated 17th century family portr ...

Rochester’s Huguenot Museum shines with latest acquisition. An 18th century silver tea table linked to the Lethieullier family has been purchased by the Huguenot Museum in Roche ...

After 1840, F. & R. Pratt of Fenton in Staffordshire, became the leading (but not the only) manufacturer of multicoloured transfer printed pot lids and a huge range of related wares. Long admired for ...

When they first came into use in the 1830s, friction matches were hazardous and could combust without warning, so vesta cases were something of a necessity. But as their production became more ...

Although now familiar to generations of children, the industrial process of die-casting only came into being towards the end of the First World War. Forcing a molten alloy into a mould under pressure ...

Within the broader context of 18th century drinking glasses there are certain areas which form the basis of specialist collecting fields. One of these is Beilby glassware, a class mostly of drinking ...