Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Regency sofas with a rich provenance
18 December 2023The Fine & Decorative Interiors sale at The Pedestal (25% buyer’s premium) included a pair of Regency white painted and gilt sofas with a rich provenance.
Copeland dinner service came from Lowther sale
18 December 2023There were many massive English country house sales in the 20th century but the largest by volume was the contents sale at Lowther Castle during April, May and June 1947.
Bidders display passion for a Holy Land panel
18 December 2023Mother of pearl and olivewood devotional objects were made in Jerusalem in large quantities as tourism to the Holy Land took off in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Brooch was ‘gift from Duke and Duchess of Windsor’
18 December 2023The sale at Young’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Farnham, Surrey, on November 25 included jewels and objects of vertu with royal provenances.
McWilliam sculpture reflects troubled times in Northern Ireland
18 December 2023A bronze from Frederick Edward McWilliam’s (1909-92) Women of Belfast series of sculptures sold for £37,000 at Halls (24% buyer’s premium) on December 6.
Smoking causes healthy results: tobacco related items
18 December 2023Corporate collection of British American Tobacco includes choice antique items related to the habit
English table clock stars in our pick of five auction highlights
15 December 2023ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes an extremely rare ebony veneered English table clock signed for Ambrose Gardner that more than doubled its estimate at auction.
Indian and Egyptian travel photo album takes sensational £135,000
11 December 2023An impressive result emerged at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood on December 5 when a travel album titled The Ramblings and Adventures of an Indian Officer was knocked down at £135,000.
Pick of the week: Sculpture by 3D printing pioneer soars above estimate at Chiswick Auctions
11 December 2023It was around 1860 that the trained artist François Willème (1830-1905) began to experiment with photography as a way to create sculpture.
Ashbee name is key to piano case appeal
11 December 2023A recently rediscovered version of one of the best-known Guild of Handicraft designs is up for sale at Sworders.
Banksy screenprint with personal dedication is among five lots to watch this week
11 December 2023With estimates from £1000, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Previews: issue 2622
11 December 2023Our selection of lots from seven upcoming UK and Irish auctions
Malczewski: Polish painter with a strong sense of self
11 December 2023Trained at the Krakow School of Fine Arts as well as the Paris École des Beaux Arts, Jacek Malczewski (1854-1929) is credited for the rise in popularity of symbolism in late 19th and early 20th-century Poland.
Sale day is May day for this German beaker
11 December 2023The small German beakers known as monatsbecher (‘month beakers’) were made in sets of a dozen: one for each month of the year.
Eye-witness account of Captain Cook’s death
11 December 2023Held by the same private New England family since 1792, a copy of 'A Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean' complete with its map came for sale at Bonhams Skinner (28/26/20% buyer’s premium).
Brilliant minds Leibniz and Wotton bring brilliant price
11 December 2023Letter from German mathematician to English scholar takes £14,000 in Edinburgh saleroom
Copeland dinner service stars in our pick of five auction highlights
08 December 2023ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a hand painted ornithological dinner service that featured in the famous Lowther Castle sale in 1947.
An Etruscan Revival micro-mosaic brooch is among five lots to watch
04 December 2023With estimates from £400, here are five previews of upcoming items.
Yasuyuki masterpiece makes £11,000 in Shropshire
04 December 2023This silver and enamel vase by Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927), the great master of Japanese cloisonné, sold to an English collector for £11,000 at Halls (24% buyer’s premium).
Anchovy paste posts a tasty £8000 result at auction
04 December 2023Among the most desirable of all ‘Prattware’ transfer printed wares are the series of very rare and highly decorative exhibition-style advertising plaques produced for firms such as Crosse & Blackwell and Huntley & Palmers.