Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Brontë family link boosts silver jug result
05 September 2022Tennants’ (20% buyer’s premium) summer silver sale included a Victorian jug by Robert Hennell with Brontë family connections.
Silver: The growing fame of the Highlands ‘hammermen’
05 September 2022Edinburgh auction highlights work of the Highlands silversmiths who operated far from the control of the assay office in the Scottish capital
Victorian kettle modelled as a curling stone doubles estimate in Edinburgh
05 September 2022Nineteenth and early 20th century novelty silver continues to be one of the strengths of the collecting category.
Previews: issue 2558
05 September 2022A selection of eight upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland.
Famous owners Tuke and Klimt enhance early 20th century items
05 September 2022This textbook Edwardian Arts & Crafts planished silver chalice by Omar Ramsden and fellow Sheffield-born designer Alwyn Carr, pictured below, is of extra interest for its inscription.
Irish ‘freedom’ boxes bring fierce bidding battles in Oxfordshire auction
05 September 2022The sale at Swan Fine Art (21% buyer’s premium) in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, on August 11-12 included two Irish ‘freedom’ boxes, c.1775.
Chippendale chairs feature at Sotheby’s sale of the Joseph Hotung collection
30 August 2022Sotheby’s will sell around 400 works from the collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung (1930-2021) across a series of dedicated auctions in Hong Kong in October and London in December.
Pick of the week: Large bill – swans book flies away for £54,000
29 August 2022A two-volume manuscript used to determine swan ownership in East Anglia from the 16th to the 19th century was sold by Sworders for a remarkable £54,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium).
Second World War nurse's cloak is among five lots to watch this week
29 August 2022With estimates from £150-4500, here are five previews of items upcoming up at auction this week.
Coleridge collection up for sale at Bellmans
29 August 2022Bellmans is selling the collection of Anthony and Marietta Coleridge on September 7-8.
Ceramics: 18th century Lowestoft rarities sell well among local collectors
29 August 2022Collecting 18th century English porcelain is still a popular pursuit – but there’s no doubt that the core collecting audience is smaller than it once was.
Lowestoft herrings reserved for posterity
29 August 2022The most desirable pieces of Lowestoft porcelain are typically the documentary pieces decorated with East Anglian scenes.
Angling for Worcester teapot
29 August 2022This Worcester teapot, offered for sale at Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) in Crewkerne, dates from the first decade of factory production: c.1755-57.
Shield buyer parries rival bidders
29 August 2022Aboriginal shields come in two basic types: broad shields used for deflecting projectiles and the narrow, compact parrying shields used in close contact fighting.
Victory parade in figure form
29 August 2022The Crimean War inspired many Staffordshire flatback figures - including this rare model made to mark the end of the conflict in 1856.
Roman inspiration supersedes Rococo
29 August 2022When Domenico Venuti became director of the Naples porcelain factory in 1779, he broke radically with any lingering Rococo sentiments and embraced the new neoclassical style sweeping Europe.
Fine Welsh porcelain consigned by Joseph family
29 August 2022A recent Welsh Sale, conducted by Rogers Jones (24/15% buyer’s premium) in Cardiff included a consignment of Swansea and Nantgarw that came by descent from the preeminent Welsh porcelain collector Sir Leslie Joseph.
Leopard bites back at unlucky hunter
29 August 2022Hot on the heels of Christie’s offering a collection of more than 80 18th century Battersea and Bilston enamels formed by interwar connoisseur Nellie Ionides (part of the May 27 auction of items from the estate of Lord and Lady Swaythling), Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) featured a smaller selection of similar wares across two sales in the summer.
Previews: issue 2557
29 August 2022A selection of 14 upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland.
Life is grand with a string of contents sales
22 August 2022A raft of contents sales from grand English estates is coming up this autumn.