Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Pick of the week: Tables spark a bidding battle
08 April 2024A pair of 18th century giltwood side tables from a Scottish country house sparked an international bidding battle at Lyon & Turnbull.
A Francis Picabia artwork is among five lots to watch
08 April 2024With estimates from £500, here are five previews of lots coming up at auction this week.
Boxwood comb would be a heartfelt gift to a loved one
08 April 2024The familiar heart symbol - that today is ‘read’ as love - made its first appearance as a rebus in the late Medieval era.
Xuande period suspected, £43,000 hammer resulted
08 April 2024This 8in (19cm) high vase may belong to a select group of Ming cloisonné enamel vases dating to the Xuande period (1426-35).
Cole clock now with Oz dealer
08 April 2024This parcel gilt silver cased cheval clock by Thomas Cole (1800-64) is hallmarked for London 1850 and the maker John Samuel Hunt of Hunt & Roskell.
Louis Vuitton miniature trunk flies over estimate in Maine
08 April 2024Correct in detail, material and quality of construction, down to brass hardware, stencilled cloth and monogrammed leather trim’, a miniature Louis Vuitton trunk sold for $7500 (£5900) at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium).
Frodsham given to a lifesaver
08 April 2024This 18ct gold pocket watch by Charles Frodsham with accompanying chain (offered separately) was presented by Sir Victor Horsley (1857-1916) to the man he credited for saving his son’s life.
Rolex told time for intrepid explorer
08 April 2024A Rolex used by Spanish sailor and scientist Vital Alsar Ramirez (1933-2020) during his Amazon and Atlantic expeditions in 1977 sold for £10,000 at Halls (24% buyer’s premium).
Two for one deal on ‘Singer Sargent’
08 April 2024Two watercolours in the manner of John Singer Sargent sailed above hopes when offered by Amelia Jeffers (20% buyer’s premium) in Delaware, Ohio on March 7.
Intelligence officer's Korean screen goes over 100 times above estimate in New Orleans
08 April 2024This Korean 10-panel folding screen made in the late 19th century in the final years of the Joseon period (1392- 1910) was offered on the second day of the recent Unreserved Sale at the Neal Auction Company (25/15% buyer’s premium).
Chair made for the Vanderbilts brings bidding battle at Bonhams Skinner
08 April 2024This Herter Bros inlaid rosewood and upholstered slipper chair was part of a suite made for the Vanderbilt family c.1881-82.
Nicholson relief was produced as a Tate replica
08 April 2024Ben Nicholson’s series of monochromatic three-dimensional relief paintings - created by the thick layers of white paint and carving wood - were first produced in the mid-to-late 1930s.
Extraordinary mourning gown shows its Worth
08 April 2024A sale titled Vintage for Valentines at Augusta Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in Bellows Falls, Vermont, was topped by an extraordinary printed chiffon outfit by the Parisian fashion house Worth.
Clocks & watches: Fret design points to hand of famed maker
08 April 2024Castings on Charles I era lantern clock suggests the work of William Bowyer
Lovely bubbly: Snappy is a happy dragon
08 April 2024Snappy the Happy Bubble Blowing Dragon is a scarce battery-operated toy made by Marx in Japan in the 1960s.
Collector who just loved Schuco toys
08 April 2024Canadian saleroom offers 180 lots from group amassed by a big fan of the German toymaker
Japanese ghosts and real women
08 April 2024During his travels to Europe, Winfield Robbins (1841-1910) amassed some 150,000 prints that he later left to his hometown of Arlington, Massachusetts.
Two Jacques who combined organic materials with metal modernity
08 April 2024Mid-century works by the French Modernist architects and interior designers Jacques Adnet (1900-84) and Jacques Quinet (1918-92) were in strong demand at Los Angeles Modern Auctions (31/25% buyer’s premium).
Hey Presto – speedy painter’s work offered in the US
08 April 2024A recent Brunk’s (23% buyer’s premium) auction in Asheville, North Carolina, included a group of six small oil-on-copper mythological scenes by Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano (1634-1705).