Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Pick of the week: Raise two pints to Guernsey mug at auction
08 January 2024The vast majority of Georgian-era Channel Islands silver baluster mugs are of a pint or half-pint capacity.
An Art Deco silver cigarette box is among five lots to watch
08 January 2024With estimates from £100, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Ephemera reveals Freddie Mercury’s band before Queen
08 January 2024Freddie Mercury mania in 2023 was not confined to Sotheby’s in London.
Virginia as the garden of Eden
08 January 2024In 1585 English colonists Thomas Hariot and John White recorded their first impressions of life on Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina.
‘What to the slave is your 4th of July?’
08 January 2024Printing of abolitionist Douglass’ famous speech on a ‘rich inheritance’ not shared takes nearly $70,000
Bidders on the alert to spot a Doulton Sentinel
08 January 2024In the early years of the HN collection in the 1920s several companies commissioned Doulton figures to advertise their products.
Rare 1930s London Underground map stars in our pick of five auction highlights
05 January 2024ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a London tube map from 1935 that emerged at a Bristol auction.
Having a blast: 18th century mortar fires up Essex auction
02 January 2024Sending the old year out with a bang, a George III brass mortar by Jan Verbruggen took £49,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at Sworders.
Howzat for a marble sculpture thought to be one of the first depictions of a cricketer
02 January 2024A white marble sculpture of a young man holding what appears to be a cricket ball flew away from its estimate to bring $30,000 (£23,700) at Andrew Jones (25% buyer’s premium).
Pick of the week: Mexican nun’s badge found in Norfolk
02 January 2024The Christmas Gifts sale at TW Gaze in Diss included a rare example of 18th century Catholic colonial jewellery: a Mexican 'escudo de monja' or nun’s badge.
Komai casket demonstrates Meiji metalwork at its very best
02 January 2024The Komai family of sword makers and armourers were among the many Japanese metalworkers courting a new clientele during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
Micromosaic plaque with maximum decorative effect
02 January 2024Estimated at $2500-3500, this micromosaic plaque depicting the Rape of Europa hammered for $13,000 (£10,300).
Ambrose Gardner signs in at auction
02 January 2024Very few English Golden Age clocks signed by Ambrose Gardner are recorded.
Items collected by renowned dealer Ernest Brummer take high prices
02 January 2024Antiquities from the collection of famed works of art dealer Ernest Brummer (1891-1964) sold for a combined total of over $2m at Hindman (26/20/15% buyer’s premium) in Chicago.
Bowie lyrics make a stellar result in Merseyside sale
02 January 2024The music memorabilia sale at Omega (28.8% buyer’s premium inc VAT) on November 29 included the handwritten lyrics to two tracks on David Bowie’s 1972 classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
Life of a debutante — and views of destroyed ships
02 January 2024The handstitched booklet titled Balls & My Partners, 1844-1845 was written by Adelaide Horatia Elizabeth Seymour (1825-77) as she enjoyed the life of a debutante.
Tale of an 18th century US journey returns Stateside
02 January 2024Bidder in Massachusetts goes to £24,000 to secure an account of a 1764 trip along the eastern seaboard
Forster’s letters and books to the policeman he loved
02 January 2024Letters and books marking the deep relationship between author EM Forster and policeman Bob Buckingham and his family sold for £9000.