Bonhams announces the sale of an extremely rare game, ‘The Game of War’ to be sold on the 13th October 2010 in Knightsbridge in the Chess, Playing Cards and Games auction.
Dating from 1890, this intricate 600 piece game is estimated to sell for £1,500-£2000, and was designed to train British army officers at a time of uncertainty in the years leading up to the outbreak of The First World War in 1914. It was common knowledge that War was coming, but no-one could predict exactly when. As a result, the …

A bottle of Ballantine’s from the “Whisky Galore” ship, The SS Politician, is being offered at Bonhams annual Scottish Sale in Edinburgh between 17 – 20 August. It is believed to have been salvaged from the wreck of the ship in the 1950s or 1960s and is being sold with photographs of the salvage operation at an estimate of £1,200 – 1,800.
In 1941, the SS Politician set sail for Kingston, Jamaica with a cargo which included pianos, motor parts, bedding and 28,000 cases (264,000 bottles) of whisky. The ship ran …

Bonhams announces the appointment and promotion of Jon Baddeley to the position of Managing Director, Knightsbridge – the busiest of the company’s UK and international salerooms. He takes on this new role with immediate effect.
“Jon has an outstanding track record in the auction business. His career as both a dealer and auctioneer spans over 30 years,” says Matthew Girling, Chief Executive Officer, Bonhams UK & Europe. “His sound business acumen, specialist knowledge and proven ability to get the best from people make Jon the obvious person to run our Knightsbridge …

A GUN BUILT for Scottish Politician, the Rt. Hon Richard Haldane, who was noted for forming the Territorial Army in 1907 is among the highlights of Gavin Gardiner’s annual auction of Fine Modern and Vintage Sporting Guns, which will be held in association with Sotheby’s.
The sale will take place on the evening of Monday, August 23, 2010 at the prestigious Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland. This will be the 43rd consecutive year that a Sporting Gun auction has been held in this impressive location.
The fine 12-bore ‘Royal’ model sidelock …

The peaks of Moel Cynghorion and Foel Goch, have been sold to an undisclosed buyer at a Kivells sale in Llanberis.
Kivells describe the land as a “remarkable run of mountain, moorland and rough grazing” and says it comprises a number of redundant stone farm buildings or cottages that may be suitable for conversion to residential or holiday use.
Before the sale, Gareth Clubb, director of the Snowdonia Society, said he hoped it would be bought by a farmer sympathetic to the environment of the national park.
He said: “We would like to …

The current Formula 1 World Land Speed Record car, a 2006 Honda F1, nicknamed Bonneville 400, is estimated to sell for £10,000 – 20,000 at Bonhams Collectors’ Motor Cars sale at Silverstone on 24 July.
This superb car accomplished a speed of 397kph on the fabled Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA, setting a new world land speed record for a Formula 1 racing car which has remained unchallenged.
Another important car in this sale is the Datsun 260Z Super Samuri Racing car, the ex Winn Percy car, estimated to sell for …

A monumental silver wine cooler, weighing 168 pounds (11 ½ stone or 2597 oz.) and measuring well over a meter across, has been sold at Sotheby’s for £2,505,250, establishing a new record price for English silver.
The spectacular cistern, as “Large as a Small Bathing-Tub”, sold to a private Asian buyer. It was lot 8 in Sotheby’s sale of “Treasures”, a 21-lot sale which has just concluded, realising an above-estimate total of £13,951,250 / $21,177,998 (the pre-sale estimate was £8,790,000 – £13,430,000).
Mario Tavella, Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman Europe and the specialist in …

A World War II bunker/pill box on the exclusive Burgh Island, just off the South Devon coast, is due to go under the hammer with Westcountry Property Auctions.
With a guide price of just £50,000+, bidders will have a rare and possibly unique opportunity to snap up the property at the next auction event being held on 14th July at The Novotel Hotel in Marsh Mills, Plymouth.
Built and designed during World War II as a ‘lookout’ to protect British shores from invasion, Lot 66, The Block House, is situated in a …

A 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage Convertible, one of only nine produced, sold for a remarkable £551,500 at Bonhams annual Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia auction at Goodwood Festival of Speed. The sale fetched a magnificent £3,707,687 in total with a 75% sale rate.
Top prices were paid for a 1937 Bentley 41/4-Litre Drophead Coupe, which featured in the 007 James Bond film ‘Never Say Never Again’ and starred at the Pebble Beach Concours in 2003, which sold for £221,500, and the ex-Yoshiyuki Hayashi 1958 model/1980s assembled Lister-Jaguar (also known as …