A cycling frog figurine, an earthenware dish with faux boiled eggs and more… Caroline Wheater chooses her highlights from recent auctions

1. Spinning Along

Estimate £1,000–£1,500 | Sold £5,250

The Bicyclist – an amusing figure of a frog riding a Penny Farthing – trundled out of Lyon & Turnbull at the end of last year, as part of the Peter Rose & Albert Gallichan Collection of 19th-century art and design that was sold to benefit The Albert Dawson Trust. The humorous piece was designed in 1885 by George Tinworth, who worked for the Doulton stoneware pottery factory in Lambeth, London, from 1867 to 1913, putting his name to many vases, jugs and animal-embellished pieces over the years. Peter and Albert came across his designs as they began collecting antiques from this period in the 1950s, first filling a flat in Hampstead with their finds, then a terraced house in Richmond, and finally at 1 Montpelier Villas in Brighton, which became a shrine to the 19th century, as well as their home. Works by Christopher Dresser, W.A.S. Benson, the Martin Brothers and William De Morgan soon began to dominate the house, while Doulton pottery and its many decorators became an engaging subject too. Peter Rose even published a book on George Tinworth in 1982. Other treasured Tinworth designs up for auction included Canoeist (another frog), and a jar and cover decorated with mice, one playing a cello. lyonandturnbull.com

2. Design of Note

Estimate £3,000–£5,000 | Sold £22,500

A sleek walnut secretaire desk, with fitted leather interior and brass handles, came up for sale at Lyon & Turnbull’s Minoprio Collection: British Design in the Arts & Crafts Tradition. Made in 1933 by renowned Cotswolds furniture maker Edward Barnsley (1900–1987), it was part of an Arts & Crafts collection amassed by architect Anthony Minoprio from the 1930s. The tradition was continued by his son John, who added to the collection with items such as this desk, sourced from specialist dealers in Burford and London. lyonandturnbull.com

3. Refined Taste

Estimate £12,000 –£18,000 | Sold £47,750

A table clock with turtleshell veneer set pulses racing at Bonhams Fine Clocks sale. The maker, George Etherington, worked in the same London street as England’s foremost clockmaker, Thomas Tompion, and shared the same outworkers and suppliers in some instances. This clock offered a ‘taste of Tompion’ at a fraction of the price (a typical Tompion table clock would make up to £300,000). The engraved back plate was of the best possible quality and the turtleshell veneer would have been very expensive. bonhams.com

4. Venerable Piece

Estimate £600–£1,000 | Sold £1,423

It’s hard to believe, but this little pottery jar may be over 800 years old. Sold at Cheffins, the ancient Chinese antique was made during the Song-Yuan dynasty that ran from 960AD to 1368AD and is called a ‘Junyao’ jar. Along with similar wares, particularly bowls and dishes, Junyao ceramics reflect the stonewares first produced at the Jun kiln in northern Henan, featuring bluegrey glazes and purple splashes – a style that caught on elsewhere. The jar was in good overall condition, with slight glaze faults and burst glaze bubbles. cheffins.co.uk/fineart

5. Faux Fancy

Estimate £1,500–£2,000 | Sold £1,875

This style of trompe l’oeil dish, featuring food that looks good enough to eat, was produced in glazed earthenware during the 18th century by potteries in Northern Europe. This ‘fayence’ example was one of a small collection that sold at Christie’s recently, and is German, possibly from the Hanau fayence factory in Hesse. It has a ‘gadrooned’ form, decorated with sliced hard-boiled eggs. Similar dishes of food were made in Italy and France, but have a more flamboyant look than these deliciously plain German pieces. christies.com

6. Babar’s ABC

Estimate £100–£150 | Sold £120

Babar the elephant first emerged in 1931 in the French children’s book, Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff; when Jean died in 1937, his son, Laurent, also an illustrator, continued the series. L’ABC de Babar, an alphabet book first published in 1934, was reissued by Random House in 1995 with de Brunhoff senior’s original illustrations and an ‘afterword’ by Laurent. This one, signed by Laurent on the cover, was sold at Dominic Winter’s Children’s Books & Illustrations, Playing Cards, Modern First Editions & Autographs sale. dominicwinter.co.uk

7. On the Tiles

Estimate £100–£200 | Sold £1,105

John Piper (1903–1992) was one of the best-known artists of the 20th century, whose abstract paintings and prints are held in public collections across the UK, including Tate Britain. He designed everything from opera sets at Glyndebourne and stained-glass windows for Coventry Cathedral, to book jackets for William Golding’s The Spire and fabrics for Sanderson. Piper embraced ceramics in the early 1970s and created this Green Man tile – which is signed and dated on the back – at the Fulham Pottery in 1982. mallams.co.uk