Auction

Mid-twentieth-century furniture has an enduring appeal. The work of designers such as Fin Juhl and Arne Jacobsen comes to the salerooms of London.

Two of the most ornate and valuable tabletops have come to London from the collection at Warwick Castle. Valued at half a million pounds each, they were commissioned by a noble family of Venice but later sold to the Earl of Warwick. In one of the most unusual sales of recent times with just two lots the 'Grimani Tables' represent a gamble for Sotheby's. Will they sell? Also in this programme, fine jewels are up for sale in London as is memorabilia from the world of entertainment including the blouse Judy Garland wore in the film The Wizard of Oz.

A life at auction - items from the collection of the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire come under the hammer at Sotheby's in London. Deborah Devonshire was the youngest of the Mitford sisters and her lifelong work, after she married Andrew Cavendish, was to restore the great stately house of Chatsworth. Elsewhere, prints and multiples are offered at Christie's and there's a new perspective of art from the Cold War, painted by artists working behind the Iron Curtain.

It is one of the oldest and most remarkable auctions in the world. In Burgundy they gather to sell off this year's wine en primeur, in aid of the Hospice de Beaune. It's a tradition started in 1795 but the hospital that the wine sale supports dates back to 1443. This year, the sale has an added poignancy; it takes place just hours after a terrorist attack in Paris.

In Staffordshire, Bonham's are selling rare motorbikes and you don't get rarer than a set of eight Brough bikes discovered in Cornwall. Made famous by Lawrence of Arabia, these bikes are being described as the discovery of the century. In complete contrast, the London saleroom of Christie's is selling Old Masters.

100 years ago, the explorer Ernest Shackleton was determined to record his expedition to the Antarctic. His crew printed a book not after the event but during it.

Some of the greatest treasures reside in European noble and private collections. It is Christie's job to find them and bring them to market. There seems to be endless supply, as this programme shows. They include a much sought-after clock by the renowned London clock-maker Thomas Tompion from the late seventeenth century.

Photographs that define our age come under the hammer at Sotheby's, including a work by Irving Penn that may fetch nearly a quarter of a million pounds. And at Christie's they are selling exquisite silver and gold snuff boxes. Also in London, nineteenth century paintings are up for sale at Bonhams, including a very rare work by Henri Fantin-Latour.

Bonham's, Coy's and RM Sotheby's are all represented at the Monaco Grand Prix Historique. Their sales, which take place as classic cars race around the Monte Carlo circuit, include a Jaguar C-Type once driven at Le Mans and a 1968 Ferrari for which the auctioneers are asking up to 23 million euros.