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 ...

A previously lost and unpublished work by Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) sold for €104,000 (£87,000) as part of the Tajan (26% buyer’s premium) latest Old Master Paintings and Drawings sale.

The only known bass drumhead featuring John Bonham’s personal symbol – the interlocking rings that became his mark after Led Zeppelin’s fourth album – knocked down at $70,000 (£53,000) plus 25% ...

The 10th edition of TEFAF New York returns between May 9-13. One London dealer is hoping to make a splash with its first showing ...

A group of 19 album leaves from the celebrated ‘Imperial Manual of Birds’ have been discovered in homes in Dorset and London. Roseberys has given the paintings, originally part of a natural history ...

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has bought a 16th-century painting by Spanish Renaissance painter Luis de Morales (1509-86). It was acquired in a private sale from London dealer Daniel Katz ...

That, at least, was the theory. In fact, relatively little Irish ‘provincial’ silver made the journey to the metropolis to receive official approval – for reasons of security and economy. It is a ...

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 ...

The Worcester factory was founded at Warmstry House in 1751 by a deed of partnership with 15 members. The period from foundation to 1783, when it was acquired by Thomas Flight, is known as the First ...

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 ...

Up to the mid-1670s, English glasses, like their Continental counterparts, were made of soda glass producing thinly constructed, lightweight vessels of fluid design. The patenting by George ...

The form emerged in the early 18 th century, though the origin of the name is obscure. Chairs of this type were manufactured in large numbers in the Thames Valley in Buckinghamshire, and Windsor may ...