London – This winter, Bonhams Knightsbridge presents five sales offering rare and important works across collecting categories, including paintings, posters, furniture, tapestries, silver and more.

Experience the joy of the ski slopes in Italy or absorb the views of Jamaica's tropical coastline in the Vintage Posters sale online from 30 January – 6 February. A patinated bronze equestrian figure of Prince Albert, the model for a marble monument dedicated to the Prince Consort which would be the centrepiece of Queen Victoria's granite mausoleum, is an unmissable highlight of The Connoisseur's Library sale Part I online from 10 – 25 February. Following Part I, The Connoisseur's Library sale Part II runs online from 10 – 26 February, offering silver and objects of vertu, notably a spectacular Dunhill 'Aquarium' Humidor. Two rare 18th century 'dissected maps' or jigsaws by John Spilsbury, considered as the inventor of the jigsaw, are among the many remarkable works on offer in the online sale of Selected Items from the Collection of the 17th Earl & Countess of Perth from 26 February – 11 March. The final Knightsbridge sale of the season, British and European Art, includes two exceptional depictions of Queen Bess Rock and Bishop Rock in Newquay by John Anthony Park, and runs online from 10 – 19 March.

Vintage Posters
30 January – 6 February

A highlight of the Vintage Posters sale is an exceptional lithographic poster by Mario Puppo, one of many posters offered in the sale embracing all the joy of the slopes. It is offered with an estimate of £400-600. Far from the snowy peaks, the sale also looks to the seasons ahead with a variety of vintage travel posters. From the tropical coasts of Jamaica to the Fiesta de Toros in Spain, take a tour of the world through the sale's highlights. The sale will also offer a strong selection of prints on the subject of the London Underground by important female artists, including Dame Laura Knight, Freda Lingstrom and Arnrid Banniza Johnson. Leading the sale is BP plus by Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954), an incredibly rare Art Deco unrecorded maquette in gouache, watercolour, black ink and pencil, which comes to Bonhams on the centenary of the Art Deco movement, offered with an estimate of £10,000-12,000.

The Connoisseur's Library Sale Part I
Part I: 10 – 25 February

A patinated bronze equestrian figure of Prince Albert, a model for a marble monument dedicated to the Prince Consort which would be the centrepiece of Queen Victoria's mausoleum, is a highlight of the Connoisseur's Library Part I sale. The mausoleum was designed by Ludwig Gruner, the Prince's former art advisor, at Frogmore House, Windsor, and was erected under the Queen's direction between 1862 and 1871. The equestrian effigy, created alongside one intended for Queen Victoria, was sculpted by Baron Carlo Marochetti, a Turin-born court sculptor who established a studio in London in 1848. Elkington & Co. Ltd., a Birmingham-based foundry, was commissioned to create bronze casts of Marochetti's sculpture, including another which would be used for the Prince Consort's statue in Glasgow. This important piece of royal history, and fine example of Victorian craftsmanship, has an estimate of £3,500-4,500.

For the first time, The Connoisseur's Library Part I and Part II sales are running online on bonhams.com. Highlights of the Connoisseur's Library Sale Part I and Part II will be on view at Bonhams Knightsbridge on 21st February and 23rd – 25th February.

The Connoisseur's Library Sale Part II
Part II: 10 – 26 February

The Connoisseur's Library Sale Part II includes a fine selection of silver and objects of vertu, including a rare mid-20th century Dunhill 'Aquarium' Humidor which has an estimate of £10,000-15,000. Constructed from lucite panels attached to a cedar wood core, this magnificent humidor is decorated with intaglio carving on each of its faces, creating an aquatic scene filled with naturalistic schools of fish, lily pads, rocks and plants. A remarkable work of craftsmanship, the humidor's lucite panelling evokes the depth and shimmering quality of an aquarium contained within glass. Inside, a humidifier is fitted to the lid, above a 'Dunhill LONDON' inset plaque. Dunhill was founded in 1907 by Alfred Dunhill (1872-1959), a tobacconist and entrepreneur, and is renowned for its high quality and exquisite attention to detail, which is perfectly exemplified with this rare 'Aquarium' example.

Selected Items from The Collection of the 17th Earl & Countess of Perth
26 February – 11 March

Two rare 18th century 'dissected maps' or jigsaws by John Spilsbury (British, 1739-1769) are some of the most intriguing lots in the sale. Considered to be the inventor of the jigsaw, Spilsbury was initially apprenticed in 1753 to Thomas Jefferys, a leading English cartographer and Royal Geographer to George III. Under his tutelage, Spilsbury refined his craft before setting out on his own in Covent Garden in 1760. As the children's publishing industry began to take off in the mid-18th century, he had the idea of mounting a map to board and cutting it into pieces along county lines for children to reassemble. According to Mortimer's Universal Director, by 1763 he described himself as 'Engraver and Map Dissector in Wood, in order to facilitate the Teaching of Geography'. Capitalising on the success of the first 'dissected map', Spilsbury went on to create eight variations: the World, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, England and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Spilsbury's 'dissected maps' offer a unique insight into Georgian attitudes to education and the ingenuity of craftsmen in England, and are an unmissable highlight of the sale. The jigsaws are offered together with an estimate of £800-1,200, the first later framed with multiple losses, and the second in a labelled box with four losses, so completists be aware!

Selected Items from The Collection of the 17th Earl & Countess of Perth sale will be on view at Bonhams Knightsbridge on 7 March and 9-11 March.

British and European Art
10 – 19 March

The British and European Art sale will showcase a curated selection of 19th Century and Impressionist artworks, including two striking paintings by John Anthony Park (British, 1880-1962). Park, celebrated for his mastery of colour, was deeply influenced by his studies at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. His works from this period reveal the distinct influence of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, movements that dominated the 1870s and 1880s.

Park was renowned for his evocative seascapes and harbour scenes from Cornwall, including two exceptional depictions of Queen Bess Rock and Bishop Rock in Newquay, each with an estimate of £1,000-1,500. The bold use of colour in these paintings reflects Park's engagement with the innovative artistic movements of his time and his adept handling of light and shadow speaks to his lifelong exploration of colour dynamics. Both paintings were commissioned from the artist for reproduction to be used as a picture postcard, and inherited thence by descent to the current owner, earning the pair a remarkable provenance. A regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Park was also a member of the Royal Society of Oil Painters and a founding member of the St Ives Society of Artists.