STAR SALES

A rare ‘Roly Poly’Steiff bear, a Minton majolica matchbox and more... Caroline Wheater selects her highlights from recent auctions

- Caroline Wheater

1. Serene Scene

Estimate £8,000-£12,000 Sold £13,750

Last August, we lost one of our best-regarded artists and printmakers, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder OBE, whose airy paintings and lithographs of flowers and cats charmed art lovers. Born in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1931, she studied fine and applied arts at Edinburgh University, leaving with a First Class degree. A Carnegie Travelling Scholarship from 1954-55 took her to Italy, Greece and Yugoslavia to study Byzantine art and architecture. From 1962 she taught at Edinburgh College of Art, before retiring in 1986 to focus on her atmospheric artworks. The Royal Academician worked in a variety of mediums - watercolour, oils and pastels - and her best-known compositions are of lilies, orchids, irises, anemones and tulips. She was also fond of three pet cats, who she captured sitting on cupboards and chairs. This watercolour, Clivia, Orchids and Arum Lily, was painted by Blackadder in 1981, and was probably sold at a solo exhibition in 1984. Earlier this year it found a new home, after selling at Roseberys' Modern & Contemporary British & Irish Art auction. Sadly, now the artist's output is finite, buying her work could be a good investment. Her limited-edition prints are more affordable, and no less charming. roseberys.co.uk

2. Slim Lines

Estimate £400-£600 Sold £1,950