MACKWORTH, DERBYSHIRE, ENGLAND (ACNI) - Looking more like a three-dimensional pop-art design Andy Warhol might have created, a circa-1765/1766 American creamware teapot protesting the Mother Country's dreaded Stamp Act set off auction-room fireworks on April 15 at the Mackworth Hotel, Derbyshire. In a sale conducted by Hansons Auctioneers of Derby, England, the Colonial-era teapot brashly emblazoned with the messages "No Stamp Act" and "Success to Trade in America" steamed up a winning bid of £79,350 (US $126,032, inclusive of 15 percent buyer's premium).

Charles Hanson, manager of Hansons and an appraiser on BBC1 Television's Bargain Hunt, called the selling price for the pot - which had been discovered in a boxful of Roya Crown Derby china and other general items - "quite remarkable." Describing the saleroom action, Hanson said, "It became a theater as bidding slowly moved up. After £20,000, the bidding became a blur, rising in £1,000 increments."

PHILADELPHIA - It has been said that when William Penn first created an urban plan for Philadelphia, he envisioned a city within a vast expanse of parkland, rife with private gardens. It seems only fitting, then, that one of the nation's premier auctions of garden and architectural antiques should take place in the historic city.  

Every April, Kamelot Auctions hosts its popular specialty event on the heels of the acclaimed Philadelphia Flower Show. It's a natural fit, since the Kamelot sale is a "neighborhood" source for antique planters, statuary, hand-wrought iron and carved stone accent pieces, and garden bronzes. Gardening enthusiasts can purchase their exotic specimens at the flower show, then match them with beautiful antique containers in Kamelot's Architectural Antiques & Garden Auction.

NEW YORK (AP and ACNI) - Jeff Koons' Baroque Egg With Bow has sold for $5.4 million at Sotheby's May 12 Contemporary Art auction.

The New York Times reported that the oversized shiny egg was consigned to the Sotheby's sale by hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb. Loeb reportedly bought it in 2004 for an estimated $3 million.

The paper reported in Wednesday's editions that the work was bought Tuesday evening by Larry Gagosian, a Manhattan dealer who represents the artist.

The price fell just under the $6 million presale estimate. The work is from the artist's Celebration Series, for which he created oversized children's toys in bright colors.

NEW YORK - Christie's May 13 Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale realized $93,734,500, with 91% sold by lot and 94% by value. The top price of the evening was paid for David Hockney's Beverly Hills Housewife, 1966-1967, which sold for $7,922,500, setting a world record price for the artist at auction.

Leading the Evening Sale was a group of 20 works from the collection of the renowned American philanthropist Betty Freeman, which was 90% sold by lot and achieved a combined total of $31,606,500. Beverly Hills Housewife, 1966-1967, one of the most important works by David Hockney to come to the auction market, achieved the evening's top price of $7,922,500 / £5,281,667 / €5,782,847, and set a new world auction record for the artist.

GENEVA (AP) - A rare 7.03-carat blue diamond sold for 9.3 million Swiss francs (more than $8.4 million) on Tuesday, May 12, 2009. Including commission, the successful bidder will pay around 10.5 million francs ($9.5 million).  It was the highest price ever for a gem of its kind, according to auctioneers Sotheby's. 

The gem, which is smaller than a dime, shaped like a cushion and one of only a few blue diamonds ever found, was among 346 lots auctioned Tuesday in Geneva. Only 266 lots sold, indicating that the economic crisis is keeping some buyers away.

On average, the rings, bracelets and necklaces on offer sold for almost 10 percent less than expected.

"I was a little bit concerned in this market," said David Bennett, head of jewelry for Sotheby's Europe and Middle East.

The anonymous telephone bidder has yet to name the diamond, Bennett said.

The gem was discovered last year in South Africa and has been graded highly for its vivid color and clarity, Sotheby's said.

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Asheville residents headed straight for their cupboards after a Chinese porcelain vase thought to be a modern copy ended up selling for $1.2 million at Brunk's May 9-10 auction. The 12-inch vase, which had been purchased at a yard sale, was expected to bring no more than $800. In the end, it hammered a breathtaking $1,236,250 - a substantial contribution to the two-day auction total of $2,598,781 (all prices quoted inclusive of 15% buyer's premium).  

The woman who consigned the top-selling famille rose vase on pale yellow ground had acquired the attractive vessel at a yard sale in Florida about seven years ago. It appeared to be a 20th-century copy of a Qianlong dynasty (1736-1795) ceramic.

"It is probably Imperial porcelain," said Ruby McCall, Brunk Auctions' specialist on Asian art, after the sale. "That means it was made in the Imperial kilns where court commissioned pieces were fired. Anything not meeting Imperial standards was destroyed. It is a very high-quality piece."

LONDON (AP and ACNI) - A medal awarded to a hero dog who sniffed out scores of survivors in the rubble following the London Blitz was sold at auction Friday for 24,250 pounds ($35,700.)

The sale price was 10,000 pounds ($14,720) higher than the estimate. Auctioneers said the buyer chose to remain anonymous.

The Dickin Medal, Britain's highest honor for animals, was awarded in 1945 to a dog named Rip, who was credited with finding more than 100 people trapped by German bomb damage in World War II.

Rip had been found abandoned in an air raid shelter and was adopted by E. King, an Air Raid Precaution Warden.

The dog had no rescue training, said the award's sponsor, the animal charity PDSA, which has provided care for sick and injured animals of people in need for 91 years.