July 8
Two pistols owned by Napoleon Bonaparte which the French emperor tried to kill himself with have been sold for €1.69 million ($2.71 million).
According to auction house Osenat, Napoleon tried to commit suicide using the guns on April 12, 1814, after military defeat had forced him into abdication.
But his squire had removed the gunpowder from the weapons, and the emperor then survived an ensuing attempt to end his life using poison.
He was then forced into exile on the island of Elba, before his return to France and final defeat at Waterloo the following year.
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The pistols had been expected to sell for between €1.2 and €1.5 million ($1.9 and $2.4 million), but went well above that price despite the set being declared French national treasures by the cultural ministry.
That decision barred the pistols from being exported, and the French government can make a purchase offer to the new (and unnamed) owner within the next 30 months.
July 3
A twice-stolen painting by Italian Renaissance master Titian, which was once found in a plastic bag at a bus stop in London, sold for $33.2 million at auction on Tuesday.
"The Rest on the Flight into Egypt" went under the hammer at Christie's in London with an estimate of £15 million-£25 million ($28 million-$48 million) and ultimately fetched £17.5 million ($33.2 million) – the highest price ever achieved at auction for a work by the artist.
The painting depicts Jesus, Mary and Joseph resting on their way to Egypt after learning that Herod, King of Judea, wanted to kill the young Christ, and measures a relatively tiny 46.2 centimetres x 62.9 centimetres.
The oil-on-canvas work has a remarkable history.
After changing hands among various European aristocrats, the painting was looted by Napoleonic troops during the French occupation of Vienna in 1809 and taken to Paris.
It was returned to Vienna in 1815 and again moved through private collections before ending up with John Alexander Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath, in Wiltshire, England.
In 1995, it was stolen from Longleat, the home of Thynne's descendants, and disappeared for seven years, before it was found at a bus stop in London by art detective Charles Hill.
July 3
The sole privately-owned copy of Mary Shelley's famous novel Frankenstein fetched the hair-raising sum of $1.3 million at auction.
During fierce bidding, the 1818 first edition of the groundbreaking book that goes by its full title of Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, was sold in the United States by Heritage Auctions alongside other rare books from The William A. Strutz Library.
The copy of Frankenstein is one of only three pink-covered first editions known to still exist, and the only held by a private owner.
British author Shelley wrote the story about a scientist who takes his experiments to a terrifying new level while holidaying in Switzerland.
While widely known as the first modern horror novel, it also contains elements of science fiction and romantic tragedy.
Shelley's novel became the basis of numerous Frankenstein films, including the famous 1931 movie, starring Boris Karloff, shown here.
June 27
A watercolor painting that was used as the cover art for the first-ever "Harry Potter" book has sold at auction for $2.9 million.
The eye-watering sum smashes the record for the most expensive Harry Potter item ever sold under the hammer.
The artist who painted the work was 23-year-old Thomas Taylor.
It was Taylor's first commission and he was working in a children's bookstore at the time.
A twice-stolen painting by Italian Renaissance master Titian, which was once found in a plastic bag at a bus stop in the UK, is expected to fetch as much as $48 million at auction next month in London.
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt depicts Jesus, Mary and Joseph resting on their way to Egypt after learning that Herod, King of Judea, wanted to kill the young Christ.
The oil-on-canvas work has a remarkable history. After changing hands among various European aristocrats, the painting was looted by Napoleonic troops during the French occupation of Vienna in 1809 and taken to Paris.
It was later acquired by a British aristocrat art lover and was passed on to his descendants. But in 1995, the painting was stolen from the family's ancestral home, and disappeared for seven years. It was eventually found at a bus stop in London by an art detective.
Two highly-rare vintage comic books have been auctioned for a combined £103,000 (AUD$198,744) in the United Kingdom.
They are both ranked in the top five most important comics of the Golden Age - the era when the concept of a superhero was created and well-known characters like Superman and Batman were introduced.
This restored Superman comic from 1939, ranked third on the list, sold for a whopping $150,505 to an Australian buyer.
"With a starting price of $38,591 and considering its rarity and ranking it is no surprise that it sold for over four times that," Excalibur Auctions' comics specialist Terry Palmer said.
A Batman comic from 1940 has sold for $48,238.
This restored Batman comic from 1940, ranked fifth on the list, sold for $48,238 - more than five times its starting price of $9647.
"We did anticipate competitive bidding, due to the rankings and rarity at auction of the two comics, but this far exceeded our expectations," Excalibur's auctioneer Jonathan Torode said.
"... I can safely say this was a truly historic moment."
May 30
A guitar once owned and used by Beatles legend John Lennon has sold for over $4.3 million at auction.
Julien's Auctions in New York sold the 1964 Framus Hootenanny 5/024 12-string acoustic guitar for US$2.875 million ($4.32 million) - far and away above the original estimate of US$600,000 to US$800,000 ($907,667 to $1.21 million).
Julien's said the selling price made it the fifth-most expensive guitar in the world.
Lennon played the guitar during the Beatles' "Help!" sessions, and it also is heard on tracks "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", "It's Only Love", "Girl", "I've Just Seen a Face", and in George Harrison's hands on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".
At the end of 1965, Lennon gave the guitar to Gordon Waller of pop duo Peter and Gordon.
Waller, according to Julien's, later gave the guitar to a manager of his, who kept it in his attic for decades.
A single feather from an extinct New Zealand bird has broken the record for the most expensive one sold at an auction.
The extinct huia bird feather sold for $NZD46,521 ($42,914) at the highly competitive auction.
"We are very pleased that this rare item of natural history has achieved such huge bidder interest," said head of decorative arts at Webb's Auction House Leah Morris.
She said it highlighted the fragility of our ecosystem and the importance of looking after fauna.
Buyers had to have a permit from the country's culture and heritage ministry before purchase.
The huia bird's last credible reported sighting was in 1907.
Their feathers were very important to New Zealand Māori and were often worn as headpieces by chiefs and their families and also gifted or traded, the auction house said.
The legacy of Saturday Night Fever is stayin' alive, as the dancefloor featured in the classic disco movie is set to fetch as much as $450,000 ($US300,000) at auction next month.
With its flashing colourful lights, the dancefloor provided the perfect backdrop for John Travolta's character, Tony Manero, to flaunt his now-iconic groovy dance moves.
Now, almost 50 years later, it is the star lot in the "Hollywood Legends" sale, to be held by Julien's Auctions on June 12-15 in Los Angeles and online.
The dancefloor measures seven metres by five metres, and features 288 lightbulbs patterns, Julien's Auctions said.
It was made for the movie and fitted at the 2001 Odyssey Disco in Brooklyn, New York, where many of the scenes were set and filmed.
After filming, the dancefloor stayed at the club until it closed down, when it was bought by an employee.
A David Hockney painting bought by famed US screenwriter and producer Norman Lear for $94,000 is expected to fetch up to $52 million at auction.
A Lawn Being Sprinkled is going under the hammer as part of a sale of the collection of Norman Lear and Lyn Davis Lear that is estimated to bring in more than $74 million, according to a statement from auction house Christie's.
Lear paid what was a record-breaking price for a Hockney work when he acquired the painting in 1978, according to the auction house, but nowadays the artist's most valuable pieces sell for tens of millions rather than tens of thousands.
In 2018, Hockney's 1972 piece Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $135m ($US90.3 million) setting a then record for the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by a living artist.
The painting, created in 1967, is acrylic on canvas and features a number of sprinklers spraying a green lawn, with a grey building and a fence in the background.
Lear was "the most important television producer in history," Christie's said.
He died at his home in Los Angeles in December aged 101.
Hockney, 86, is one of the world's most popular living artists.
Born in Bradford, England, Hockney travelled to California in 1964 and subsequently spent many years there, painting some of his best known works.
Eight watches belonging to motor racing icon Michael Schumacher sold for nearly four million Swiss francs ($AUD6.6 million) at a Geneva auction.
The top piece in the sale, organised by Schumacher's family, was a watch given to the German racing superstar by former Ferrari chief executive Jean Todt as a Christmas present in 2004.
The hammer came down at a price of $1.99 million.
The custom-made platinum timepiece from F.P. Journe, the Vagabondage 1, features 18-carat white gold, a red watch face and images of a Ferrari logo, Schumacher's racing helmet and a "7" — to honour his seven Formula 1 World Championship victories.
The sale of the Schumacher watches was timed for the 30th anniversary of his first Formula 1 drivers championship win in 1994.
Schumacher, who retired from F1 in 2012, shares the record for most F1 titles with British driver Lewis Hamilton.
In December the following year, Schumacher fell while skiing in the French Alps and suffered a near-fatal brain injury. Since being transferred from hospital in September 2014, he continues to be cared for privately at a family home in Switzerland.