Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Benchmark prices for Horlicks’ ‘prime period’ Mouseman
15 October 2018The Horlicks collection of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson furniture was sold at Sworders’ auction for £236,000.
Pick of the week: Pilkington’s pride of place
15 October 2018A private collection of more than 30 pieces of Pilkington’s Lancastrian lustre excelled when offered at Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on October 10.
Medal celebrates that sinking feeling
15 October 2018This medal documents a little-known moment in the history of the English Civil War. In 1648, following a revolt in the Parliamentary fleet, a number of ships went to Helvoetsluys in the western Netherlands and were organised as a Royalist squadron by Prince Rupert of the Rhine (1619-82).
The dust settles: a special report on the Australian auction scene
15 October 2018After almost a decade of flatlining annual sales and the collapse of Mossgreen, Australia’s auctioneers are vocal about the improving market.
Kelly still standing after 20 bare-knuckle rounds
15 October 2018“If I was to select just one lot we have sold this year,” says John Albrecht, managing director at Leonard Joel, “it would be the haunting, period photo of Australia’s infamous bushranger, Ned Kelly, taken in 1874 after a boxing match.”
Silver from a Melbourne founder
15 October 2018Presented to Captain William Lonsdale (1799-1864) in 1842 by the people of Melbourne in recognition of his services to the founding colony, the Lonsdale Silver Presentation has remained in his descendants’ care for 176 years.
Webb’s independent again
15 October 2018Leading New Zealand firm Webb’s – established by Auckland gallery owner Peter Webb in 1976 – became part of Mossgreen in October 2014. Two businessmen and art collectors from the city, Ewen Mackenzie-Bowie and Bruce Qin, rescued the saleroom earlier this year following the collapse of the parent company and a regular calendar of sales is now in operation from new premises in Mount Eden.
Foujita record brings many happy returns for Bonhams
13 October 2018'La fête d’anniversaire' by the Japanese-French artist Léonard Foujita (1886-1968) sold for a hammer price of £6.1m (plus buyer's premium) to one of eight phone bidders at Bonhams’ Impressionist and Modern Art sale on October 11.
Five lots that caught bidders’ eyes including pen and ink silhouettes, a Qing model of a tree and an 18th century casket
12 October 2018ATG’s selection of highlights sold at auctions this week, including a model tree taken from the Chinese emperor's Summer Palace.
Mighty mouse: Horlicks’ Mouseman commission stirs up Essex auction room
10 October 2018The Horlicks collection of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson furniture was sold at Sworders auction yesterday for £236,000.
Hammer highlights: five lots that caught bidders’ eyes including photographs of a fairy hoax that famously duped Arthur Conan Doyle.
09 October 2018ATG’s selection of highlights sold at auctions last week, including a rare 18th century left-handed cricket bat and photographs of a fairy hoax that famously duped Arthur Conan Doyle.
Contents of a Staffordshire manor house comes to auction in Derbyshire
09 October 2018Derbyshire auction house Hansons is selling the complete contents of a Staffordshire manor house next week. Bishton Hall, at Wolseley Bridge, near Stafford, was built and has been home to the Stafford Northcote family and Saint Bede’s Prep School since 1946.
Buyers dig deep for classical ‘Roman’ bust at Sheffield auction
08 October 2018A classical marble bust took an unexpected £129,000 at Sheffield Auction Gallery on September 21.
‘Chinese Mona Lisa’ comes to auction from Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick
08 October 2018Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury will sell an important oil by Chinese contemporary artist Yang Fei Yun (b.1954) next month. It comes for sale from the charity established by Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick (1942-2007).
When British beer cans burst into life at auction
08 October 2018In the long history of beer, the can is a relative newcomer. The first canned beer came with the end of Prohibition in the US – the shiny new light-weight packaging used by Krueger’s in Richmond, Virgina, to market a pasteurised beverage from January 1935.
Value of English coinage increases at Mayfair dealership Sovereign Rarities' first auction
08 October 2018Landmark prices were paid for rare large-denomination English coins when Mayfair coin dealership Sovereign Rarities conducted its first auction on September 25.
Pick of the Week: Pair to the ‘Bainbridge vase’ sells for £14.6m at Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction
08 October 2018The pair to the famous ‘Bainbridge vase’ sold in Hong Kong on October 3 for HK$130m (£12.75m) plus premium. Five bidders competed for the lot.
Roman gold coin hoard uncovered in Italy
06 October 2018Workers charged with the demolition of the former Cressoni Theater in Como, Lombardy have unearthed a hoard of 5th century Roman gold coins.
Adding lustre to Pilkington's Lancastrian collection at auction
04 October 2018The BBC’s Antiques Roadshow spotlight fell upon the Pilkington's Lancastrian factory this week - just days before an important private collection of these Salford-made lustre wares is offered for sale at auction in Scotland.
Pair to the ‘Bainbridge vase’ sells for £14.6m at Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction
03 October 2018The recently discovered pair to the famous ‘Bainbridge vase’ has sold in Hong Kong today for a premium-inclusive HK$149m (£14.6m). Bidding opened at HK$40 million and steadily climbed as five bidders competed for the lot.