The tournament, between the Axis nations of Germany, Hungary and Italy, took place over three days in 1942, starting on September 23 – the day the Germans started gassing Jews at Auschwitz and on which the Russian counter offensive at Stalingrad began.

 

Of the three events, this was the one – perhaps unsurprisingly – that Goebbels decided to use as a propaganda vehicle. Letters and postcards carried a commemorative postmark featuring the flags of the three nations, and the Nazis even produced a movie about the event – the catchily-titled Deutschland, Italien, Ungarn - Ein Boxländerkampf im Kriegsjahr 1942.

 

A programme from the tournament is being offered for sale alongside a miscellany of artefacts from wartime Germany, including a Waffen SS armband, a pair of  German field glasses and assorted postcards. The lot is expected to achieve between £30 and £50. 

 

Also in the  auction is a large collection of binoculars, dating from the war years to the present day. The 29 pairs of binoculars are to be sold over six lots, with the standout lot containing a pair of German Afrika Corps tan coloured binoculars in bakelite case, carrying an estimate of £50 to £80.

 

Fans of looking through things will be delighted with a rare Victorian Kinora Co oak viewer, a mechanical device that flicks and magnifies photographic images at high speed, giving an impression of movement. The precursor to 'movies' in the true sense, this example carries a conservative estimate of £70 to £100.

From big screens to small screens, one of the best lots of the sale – and gracing the cover of the catalogue – is a 19th century Dutch painted leather three-fold screen. Painted in the Old Master style, the screen features images of exotic flowers tumbling from urns.

 

And a large stone urn with Greek key decoration on a large plinth is another of the standout lots at the auction, due to its sheer size – its stands at almost 7ft tall - as much as its considerable decorative qualities. With a fair amount of frost damage to the rim, the piece carries a very reasonable £300 to £400 estimate.

 

Despite the wintery weather, garden effects are already starting to appear at the saleroom. Among the more unusual is a large selection of rainwater hoppers, which will be sold in themed sets with estimate around the £50 to £80 mark, while out-of-season bidders could snap up a Victorian wirework two-seater garden bench and two matching wirework chairs for around £100 to £150. 

 

The first auction of 2012 takes place at the Norcote salerooms, Cirencester on Friday, January 6. For a full auction catalogue log on to www.mooreallen.co.uk/furniturefinearts