Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Spencer’s Great War masterpiece reopens after restoration campaign
18 August 2014Earlier this month, 100 years to the day since the outbreak of the First World War, Sandham Memorial Chapel near Newbury reopened to the public after restoration.
‘Moggy Ming’ bowl sets £90,000 house record
15 August 2014The opening lots of a recent sale at Reeman Dansie of Colchester comprised a collection of Chinese porcelain which included a rare bowl that was apparently a favourite resting place for the family cat.
Della Robbia pottery sees revival in London and the regions
15 August 2014There are signs that last year’s publication of ‘The Della Robbia Pottery’ by Peter Hyland has given a lift to the market for the distinctive wares produced in Birkenhead by Harold Rathbone and Conrad Dressler between 1894-1906.
Georgian world in miniature
13 August 2014Chichester firm Stride & Sons included two fine Georgian miniatures in their latest sale.
Benjamin West drawings take a combined £112,000
12 August 2014Two drawings of Old Testament subjects by the American-born portrait and history painter Benjamin West (1738-1820) proved the highlight of the latest sale of Old Masters & 19th Century Works on Paper at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions’ saleroom in Mayfair.
Leeds flat clearance yields Qing treasure
08 August 2014There was huge pre-sale interest from the Far East in this Qing jade table screen at the latest fine art sale held by Tennants of Leyburn.
Far Eastern market grows for Chinese Export silver
08 August 2014It’s only recently in the decade-long boom in Chinese works of art that Far Eastern buyers have come to appreciate once again the merits of Export silver. Once a neglected area, academic interest has been piqued in the subject as the marketplace moves in leaps and bounds.
Fitzwilliam Museum buys Coalport jug at Agricultural Society auction
25 July 2014A massive Coalport Feldspar porcelain jug painted with a study of Earl Spencer’s Durham Ox in a parkland setting has been bought by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Gold from Geordie shores: £150,000 collection emerges from Cullercoats bungalow
25 July 2014The centrepiece of Anderson & Garland’s sale in Westerhope, near Newcastle, last month was the eclectic Walton Temple collection.
Right time, right place this time around, say Sotheby’s and eBay
25 July 2014Twelve years after their first online collaboration, Sotheby’s and eBay have formed a second partnership to stream Sotheby’s sales worldwide.
Bidders fly to Hampshire to hear music box sing at £22,000
25 July 2014Selborne, Hampshire, auctioneer Hannams produced a YouTube video to promote the presence of this very early key-wind musical box by Nicole Frères in their inaugural sale.
Golden age pieces make their mark
23 July 2014A recent sale at Bamfords of Derby included two outstanding pieces of Chippendale period rococo furniture, both consigned by a local lady who had inherited them from her father.
Unique seat of learning belonging to agricultural pioneer
18 July 2014Born near Loughborough into a family of tenant farmers, Robert Bakewell (1725-95) is recognised as an important figure in the Agricultural Revolution – a pioneer of the grassland irrigation he saw while travelling in Europe and an innovator in the selective breeding of livestock.
A £2200 token of love – Cumbrian medallion sampler surfaces in Cheltenham
18 July 2014Among the most desirable of all needlework samplers are those associated with pupils at the Ackworth School, founded as a co-educational boarding school in 1779 by the Quaker physician John Fothergill and still thriving today.
Met Police wildlife unit joins ivory debate with appeal
16 July 2014In the wake of calls for the destruction of antique ivory, The Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit is asking Londoners to bring in ‘family heirlooms’ made from elephant ivory and other endangered species.
Antiques Roadshow reins in ivory coverage
16 July 2014The BBC’s Antiques Roadshow will show fewer ivory objects in future programmes, but has stopped short of banning the valuation of antique ivory on screen.
Maori artefacts top regional tribal gathering
11 July 2014Maori boat-shaped feather boxes – or ‘waka huia’ – are infrequent visitors to UK salerooms so it was unusual to see two examples sold in close proximity this summer.
Hitting the suite spot at £42,000
04 July 2014An Arts & Crafts dining room suite made by the prominent Manchester designer Edgar Wood has sold for £42,000 at Gardiner Houlgate of Corsham near Bath.
Tiffany tea caddy draws bidding at Hansons
04 July 2014Discovered at a regional valuation day held in Shropshire by Hansons of Etwall, this Tiffany and Co. silver and mixed-media tea caddy had been a wedding gift and had remained in the family of the vendor since the 1920s.
Steiff ‘Titanic’ teddy tops latest sales in a bear market
04 July 2014The story goes that Steiff black mohair bears were produced as mourning bears after the Titanic disaster in April 1912.