Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Insurance fire marks sell in a blaze of glory
18 November 2019The practice of placing a metal mark on a building to indicate insurance against a fire started in earnest after the Great Fire of London (1666). Each insurance company had its own fire service and distinctive logo.
A clockwork gramophone playing chocolate discs and a Cartier silver case – five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
15 November 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights this week includes a Cartier silver presentation cigarette case with the monogram of the King and Queen of Belgium.
Little silver collection coming to auction includes big rarities
11 November 2019The Little collection of early English silver is coming to Christie’s London on December 3. The auction comprises 26 domestic vessels from the Tudor and early Stuart periods that survived the tumult of the Civil War period. Some pieces are considered the last of their type in private hands.
Qing magnificence rules across Asian Art in London sale series
11 November 2019Market-fresh examples of Qing imperial splendour dominated a week of auctions timed to coincide with this year’s Asian Art in London event.
Archive from the queen’s dress designer excels
11 November 2019A Cecil Beaton sketch of Christian Dior working in his studio in Paris sold for £5200 (estimate £500-700) as part of the estate of society dress designer Ian Thomas (1929-93).
Five lots to watch at auction this week including a Kutchinsky brooch, a ceramic fire mark and a signed Oliver Cromwell document
11 November 2019With estimates from £300-6500, here are five previews of upcoming sales this week.
Oved’s animal magic
11 November 2019It was not catalogued as such, but this silver ring modelled as a standing lion with a gold-coloured mane is designed by Moshe Oved (1885-1958), the owner of celebrated Bloomsbury antique shop Cameo Corner where jewellery expert John Benjamin first learnt his trade.
The sign of the Knights Templar
11 November 2019This early medieval gold ring dates to the time of the Crusades – its decoration of a five-fold ‘Jerusalem’ cross suggesting a link with the Knights Templar.
Eyeing a fine demantoid
11 November 2019The first demantoid garnet (a type of andradite) was discovered in the Urals in the mid 19th century. Russian miners were immediately struck by the highly refractive nature of the gem and its exceptional fire and gave it a name that compared its flashing green colour to the eyes of a demon.
The Speedy before space
11 November 2019The Watch Sale at Fellows in Birmingham on November 26 includes this Ref 105.002-62 Omega Speedmaster chronograph.
Sprinkling a little stardust
11 November 2019The 1961 International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery, organised jointly by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and the Victoria and Albert Museum, was the world’s first international display of contemporary jewellery.
The cutting edge of fashion
11 November 2019Out of favour for a generation, grand tour and ancient intaglios and cameos are enjoying a return to form.
Mappin’s entry to Modern Jewellery
11 November 2019A letter accompanying this gold, diamond and fire opal brooch, formed as a columbine, below, confirms it was part of the International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery held at The Goldsmiths Hall, London, in 1961.
A double helping of imperial jewels
11 November 2019Jewellery owned by Marie Valerie Hapsburg, the favourite daughter of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, will be auctioned by Dorotheum in Vienna on November 27.
Shedding daylight on Art Nouveau
11 November 2019The November 18 sale titled California Jewelry held by Doyle New York on the West Coast includes a group of French Art Nouveau pieces described as ‘Property from an Important Jewel Collector’. Several display the plique-à-jour (‘letting in daylight’) enamelling technique revived in the late 19th century.
Brooch the topic with Supreme Court approval
11 November 2019A welcome trend in the jewellery market has been the resurgence of the brooch. In October, when Baroness Brenda Hales gave her verdict on Boris Johnson’s ‘illegal’ prorogation of Parliament, what many social media users really wanted to know was ‘where did she get that spider brooch?’
A very Victorian scandal
11 November 2019This early-Victorian bracelet comprising eight portrait miniatures and four unusual eye miniatures set in gold is inscribed on the back with a series of identifying names, including that of Josias Nottidge, the children’s father, and his wife Emily. It tells the story of a Victorian scandal.
