Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Fouquet fresh as a daisy
19 April 2019This French mother-of-pearl and gold pin formed as a daisy comes in a fitted box signed for George Fouquet (1862-1957).
Farnham’s fragrant bloom points to late 19th century Tiffany
19 April 2019Although unmarked, this gold, enamel and diamond brooch offered by Bonhams Knightsbridge (27.5/25% buyer’s premium) was almost certainly made by Tiffany in New York c.1890.
Pick of the week: Fierce bidding at Bellmans for panoramic view of London showing the city reimagined after the 1666 Great Fire
15 April 2019A very rare panorama of 17th century London depicting the city skyline in the wake of the Great Fire of 1666 has sold at auction for £90,000.
Dorchester saleroom Duke's to hold ‘biggest house contents auction’ in the regions for a decade
15 April 2019Duke’s of Dorchester has announced what promises to be the biggest house contents sale of the year and the largest by a UK regional auction house for more than a decade.
Regency furniture sets Guernsey saleroom record
15 April 2019A fine pair of Regency dwarf bookcases in the manner of George Oakley sold for £58,000 at the Martel Maides saleroom in St Peter Port, Guernsey.
Phillips to offer rare wristwatch find in Geneva
15 April 2019The May 11-12 Geneva sale conducted by Phillips in association with watch consultancy Bacs & Russo includes one of the most complicated wristwatches of the pre-war era: the Vacheron Constantin minute repeater with retrograde calendar from 1940.
Scottish firm's new sale in London receives encouragement from bidders
15 April 2019Lyon & Turnbull’s (25% buyer’s premium) inaugural Modern Made auction at the Mall Galleries in London received plenty of encouraging noises from the dealing and collecting community as it posted a total of £1m (including premium).
Victorian photograph of the moon sells in an Irish auction
15 April 2019A label to this 21 x 16½in (53 x 42cm) print reads 'Photograph of the Moon, taken by Prof Henry Draper, MD, with a silvered glass Telescope, Fifteen and a Half Inches Aperture, Hastings NY September 3rd 1863'.
Lyon & Turnbull’s new sale shows plenty of growth potential
15 April 2019The financial highlight at Lyon & Turnbull’s (25% buyer’s premium) inaugural Modern Made auction at the Mall Galleries in London was provided by an auction record for Malaysian Modernist painter and poet Abdul Latiff Mohidin (b.1938).
Renaissance continues in market for mechanical wristwatchs
15 April 2019Watch collectors priced out of the market for blue-chip branded sports models are finding value for money elsewhere.
Florence Nightingale pamphlet and a portrait of an 18th century African girl in Edinburgh – five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
12 April 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes a nursing pamphlet sent and inscribed by Florence Nightingale and an 18th century watercolour of an African girl in Edinburgh.
“An absolute belter” – ‘Anglo-German’ George I bookcase bid to £120,000
11 April 2019An extraordinary George I burr walnut bureau bookcase was bought for £120,000 when Duke’s of Dorchester sold the contents of Moigne Combe on April 10.
Rare Roman gold coin found in Kent field comes to auction
10 April 2019A very rare Roman gold coin, found by a metal detectorist in a field in Kent last month, will come to auction with an estimate of £70,000-100,000.
Pick of the week: Catlin’s chief appeal brings high prices at London auction
08 April 2019Previously unpublished sketches and letters by the American artist and traveller George Catlin (1796-1872) attracted multiple bidders at Forum Auctions in London.
Tianminlou collection sells out in Hong Kong auction
08 April 2019Sotheby’s spring Hong Kong auction series generated a grand total of HK$3.78bn (£367m) – the second highest in the company’s 46-year history in the territory – and a combined sell-through rate of 90%.
US sale offers engraved gem ‘masterpieces’ group
06 April 2019Christie’s is to sell a remarkable collection of engraved gems from the Classical world, formerly in the Sangiorgi collection, in New York later this month.
Grima jewellery, Devlin designs and a Kangxi vase – six auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
05 April 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes an Andrew Grima ring and two Stuart Devlin silver gilt surprise eggs that sold for many multiples of their estimates.
Tipu Sultan battlefield spoils dispersed at Oxfordshire auction
01 April 2019A rifle from the personal armoury of Tipu Sultan sold for £60,000 in Oxfordshire last week.
Giambologna bronze brings 100 times estimate in Paris
01 April 2019A Mannerist bronze after Giambologna brought a surprise €3.2m (£2.7m) at Artcurial on March 27.
Interior motives: how old school weekly sales are giving way to new auction formats
01 April 2019Weekly clearance sales are increasingly being replaced by newly branded formats as auction houses are responding to fresh consumer trends.