Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Antiques dealer's French imperial naval eagle soars at auction
24 August 2020According to his family, this French imperial naval eagle was purchased by the dealer Jack Webb (1923-2019) from a ‘totter’ in the early 1970s over the counter at his shop in Camden Passage.
Dealer’s kitchen antiques collection finds new home
24 August 2020A vast collection of Victorian kitchen antiques formed by a dealer from Kent has found a new home in North Yorkshire.
Statues surface from sunken garden site after decades in the undergrowth
24 August 2020An extraordinary cache of garden statuary, unseen for decades, comes for sale at Summers Place Auctions next month.
Pick of the week: Disc-end spoon discovery scoops £21,000
24 August 2020While most early Scottish spoon types follow closely known and comparable patterns from England or mainland Europe, the ‘disc-end’ is an exception. Made for perhaps a century from c.1580, it is a form seemingly unique to Scotland.
A military watch collection, a Bernard Leach jar and a Shakespeare halfpenny are among the five lots to watch at auction this week
24 August 2020With estimates from £100-35,000 here are five previews of upcoming items this week.
Politician proves influential in the antiques world
24 August 2020Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond (1944-2014) – the founder of the Norbrook pharmaceutical group in Northern Ireland – proved just as influential in the world of politics as he was in business.
Sphinx flies in black glass
24 August 2020The best-known press-moulded models made by John Derbyshire at the Regent Road Flint Glassworks in Salford are the series of animal and figural paperweights made in frosted, flint and coloured glass.
Bronze deity makes a jumbo price
24 August 2020In Tibetan Buddhism the elephant-headed deity Vignataka is treated with considerable ambivalence.
The Mouseman in his prime
24 August 2020Classic Robert Thompson products from family collections underline current keen demand.
Carving much mightier than a mouse
24 August 2020The Robert Thompson firm produced shire horses, such as this example offered by Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on July 23, from the 1960s-90s.
Bayonet axed for being costly is now highly valauble
24 August 2020The so-called Elcho bayonet was designed for the Martini-Henry rifle in 1870 by Lord Elcho, the 10th Earl of Wemyss & March.
Batavian box gives buyer something to chew on
24 August 2020The centuries-old Indonesian habit of chewing betel nut, the fruit of the reach palm, was quickly adopted by settlers from the Dutch East India Company who appreciated both its psychoactive properties and its importance as a local social ritual.
Politicians on the saleroom menu
24 August 2020Estimated at £100-200 but sold for £2800 at Thomas Watson (25% buyer’s premium) in Darlington on August was a set of four Worcester parian menu holders.
Minton majolica bear that once appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow stars in our pick of five auction highlights sold this week
21 August 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a Minton majolica dancing bear that sold for four-times estimate in Surrey.
Rothschild taste adds to record Salisbury total
17 August 2020A group of works of art from a country home once owned by members of the Rothschild family boosted the latest Woolley & Wallis auction.
Pick of the week: Tiny box with calligraphy from the ‘Little man of Nuremberg’ who excelled at micro masterpieces
17 August 2020Matthias Buchinger (1674-1740), the so-called ‘Little Man of Nuremberg’, was just 2ft 5in (74cm) tall. Born in Ansbach without legs and having truncated arms without fingers, he nonetheless excelled at many occupations associated with physical dexterity.
18th century French gift box and Edward the Confessor silver penny are among the five lots to watch at auction this week
17 August 2020With estimates from £180-9000 here are five previews of upcoming items this week.
Erskine Childers’ sword sells in Irish auction
17 August 2020This Royal Navy Reserve officer’s sword owned by Robert Erskine Childers was estimated at €3000-5000 in a recent auction by Mullen’s (20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in Bray, Co Dublin. The scabbard throat of the Victorian 1827-pattern sword is engraved 'RE Childers'.
Pendant with hallmarks of Andrew Grima shines in Edinburgh sale
17 August 2020Many jewels by Anglo-Italian designer Andrew Grima carry the mark HJCo for the Haller Jewellery Company, the workshop of Grima’s father-in-law where he first found work in the accounts department in 1946. It was not until two years later that (untrained) he moved into design.