Briggs Auction has held three big auctions in the first quarter of 2026 and is poised to continue the trend of both quality and frequent sales. The first was a single-owner collection of British post-war pottery held Jan. 30 with work by Hans Coper, Lucie Rie, John Ward, Karl Scheid, and Jimmy Clark. The British studio pottery came from Dr. John Shea of Philadelphia. Hans Coper, an influential artist in the 1960s studio pottery movement, held the honor of the top two lots of this auction. The first, a sleek spade-form stoneware vessel with manganese interior glaze and impressed artists seal on the underside, garnered strong international bidding, both online and by telephone, before selling for $116,850 (prices include 23 percent buyers premium). The second, a slim stoneware vase of refined Cycladic form, also with a manganese-glazed interior and artists cypher, also exceeded its estimate to sell for $79,950. Several works by Lucie Rie, Copers one-time teacher and later associate, also realized impressive prices. An elegant bottle vase and a sleek footed bowl of flared form, both featuring a sgraffito decoration and stamped artists cypher, each sold for an impressive $15,990, while two other Rie vases with glazed and pitted exteriors each sold for $6,150. A svelte flared-form vase realized $5,166, while an interesting squeezed bowl with manganese rim sold for $4,920, and a flower vase with blue and gray spiral decoration sold for $4,674. Other standouts early in the calendar year included a Hans Hoffman abstract watercolor and gouache on board offered from the estate of Helen E. Scott of the Ardrossan estate in Villanova, Pa., realizing $25,830, and an impressive 161-piece Cristoffle .950 silver flatware service in the Vendome pattern sold for $20,910. A Whiting silver repouss nautical-themed bowl ($9,840); an 1889 four-volume set of Theodore Roosevelts Winning of the West, which included an original Theodore Roosevelt-penned manuscript leaf ($9,225); and a William Turner bronze octopus sculpture ($7,380) helped keep the auction energy flowing. February saw glamor and gold lead the way with some fine estate jewelry stealing the spotlight, while silver, fine art, and a couple interesting clocks kept things running smoothly. Top jewelry lots in a Feb. 27 Fine Estates Auction included an 18-carat yellow gold and platinum collar-form necklace with diamonds and rubies, which sold for $18,450; a sleek 18-carat yellow gold herringbone-design cuff bracelet with diamonds and sapphires, $13,530; an elegant Italian 18-carat yellow gold choker necklace with diamonds, $7,380; and a Peruvian 18-carat Aztec-design pendant/brooch and a pair of matching earrings marked Arte Orfebre sold for $6,765. Other notable lots included a six-piece Bailey Banks & Biddle Queen Anne-style sterling tea set ($7,995), a Tiffany Studios favrile glass center bowl ($7,380), a hand-written letter from T.E. Lawrence (author of Lawrence of Arabia, 1888-1935) selling for $2,952, and two clocks: a Simon Willard tall case clock ($7,380) and a George III mahogany-case bracket clock ($5,904). March went out like a lion with a March 27 Fine Estates Auction which saw an eclectic mix of estate finds capture bidders interests. From a whimsical set of swan-design garden gates and sleek mid-century modern furnishings, to elegant fine porcelains, there was a bit of everything in this sale. A Pablo Picasso painted and partially-glazed ceramic plate titled Poisson Chine (mottled fish), ca. 1952, sold for $9,225, while a leather-upholstered Ueli Burger, Perduzzi-Riva and Urlich De Sede 600 non-stop snake sofa in 14 sections realized $8,610, and an elegant Chinese Yuan blue and white porcelain stem cup with dragon decoration sold for $7,995, highlighting the broad appeal this auction fostered. A grouping of Andrew Wyeth signed prints and sketches went for $4,674, and a Dale Chihuly Royal Raspberry Seafoam Pair hand-blown glass sculpture of two nested ripple-form bowls $4,182; a 76-piece Stieff for Colonial Williamsburg sterling silver flatware service in the Queen Anne pattern brought $5,658. A Civil War recruitment lithograph poster printed by Ringwalt & Brown of Philadelphia sold for $3,690. A sale worth noting was part one of an impressive collection of professional-grade cameras, lenses, camera equipment, photo printing tools and accessories, and more from a single collectors estate. Top lots included a Fujifilm GFX100 II medium format mirrorless camera equipped with a Fujinon GF lens, selling for $5,900 (prices in this sale include 18 percent buyers premium); an A Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/1.2 ASPH lens with Techart adapter and case, which also went for $5,900; and a Leica SL2-S mirrorless digital camera and Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm F2.8-4 ASPH lens, which sold for $3,540. The successes of our first quarter demonstrates the continued strength of the estate market, particularly for rare and thoughtfully curated collections, according to Stephen Turner, President and CEO of Briggs Auction, Inc. The results weve achieved confirm that serious collectors are actively pursuing significant pieces at all levels, both nationally and internationally. Briggs is located at 1315 Naamans Creek Road, Garnet Valley, Pa. For further information, call 610-566-3138 or email info@briggsauction.com.