Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Historic Piprahwa gems return to India in private sale after planned Sotheby’s auction cancelled
31 July 2025A collection of relics linked to the historical Buddha will now go on public display in India.
Portrait of first governor of Western Australia reappears at Perth auction
31 July 2025A dozen years after it was last sold in England, a portrait of Sir James Stirling (1791-1865), the first governor of Western Australia, returned to auction Down Under earlier this month.
William De Morgan strikes twice as sketchbook and charger emerge in Gloucestershire
30 July 2025Two contrasting works by William De Morgan (1839-1917) – a sketchbook and a triple-lustre charger – were offered for sale by Dominic Winter in consecutive sales this month.
Ancient Egyptian grasshopper takes six-figure sum at auction
28 July 2025An ancient Egyptian cosmetic vessel made in the form of a grasshopper or cicada sold for £340,000 at Apollo Art Auctions in London on July 27.
Rare Libertas Americana silver medal sells at Newcastle auction
24 July 2025A fine example of the Libertas Americana silver medal sold for £63,000 at Anderson & Garland’s Fine Silver and Objects of Vertu auction in Newcastle this week.
Guennol Grasshopper: Controversial Egyptian vessel comes to auction
24 July 2025An ancient Egyptian cosmetic vessel made in the form of a grasshopper or cicada comes to auction in London this week.
Fouquet-Mucha brooch: Giants of Art Nouveau reunited in Southend
21 July 2025A large gold, enamel and gemset jewel combining the talents of two of the biggest names in French Art Nouveau has surfaced for sale in Southend-on-Sea.
Somerset collection tells perambulator history
21 July 2025The antiques and vintage sale at Gardiner Houlgate in Corsham on July 31 includes the Swift collection of antique prams.
Why Child & Child was the artist’s choice
21 July 2025Walter Child (1840-1930) and Harold Child (1848-1915), the sons of an East End pawnbroker who left a fortune of £30,000, opened as art jewellers in 1880 at 1 Seville Street, Belgravia.
Elizabethan grasshopper ring jumps to £42,000
21 July 2025A previously unrecorded Elizabethan gold and enamel signet ring, a gift from the influential Tudor financier and merchant, Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-79), sold for £42,000 at Noonans (24% buyer’s premium).
Dior brooch chimes again, this time at Birmingham auction
21 July 2025Just a month after a rare Christian Dior (1905-57) musical brooch was sold Tajan in Paris, two more examples appeared for sale at Fellows’ (30% buyer’s premium inc VAT) Handbags & Accessories auction in Birmingham on June 24.
Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet flies to 14 times estimate
21 July 2025A modestly estimated Van Cleef & Arpels, 18ct yellow gold gem set charm bracelet from c.1960 did particularly well for Dreweatts.
‘At the height of Cartier’s creative prowess’
21 July 2025Crowning the summer jewellery sales was the spectacular Cartier London turquoise and diamond tiara from 1930 offered by Bonhams (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium).
‘Antiques Roadshow’ brooch comes to south London saleroom
21 July 2025A Chaumet Art Deco white gold, rock crystal, diamond and ruby lapel clip brooch seen in a 1990s episode of Antiques Roadshow reappeared at a recent Roseberys (26/25/20% buyer’s premium) jewellery auction in West Norwood, London.
The Waste Land – as typeset by Woolf
21 July 2025While TS Eliot’s poem 'The Waste Land' had appeared in book form in the US in 1922 – and in two magazines the same year – the edition published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press in Richmond, Surrey in 1923 was the first in the UK.
Giants of Art Nouveau reunited in Southend as striking brooch doubles estimate
18 July 2025A large gold, enamel and gemset jewel combining the talents of two giants of French Art Nouveau has surfaced for sale in Southend-on-Sea.
First part of the Michael Baggott silver collection raises nearly £100,000 at auction
17 July 2025Woolley & Wallis sold the first tranche of the private collection and stock of silver specialist Michael Baggott (1973-2025) on July 16.
Only known portrait that Gandhi sat for sells for £120,000
17 July 2025A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi – believed to be the only oil painting for which the leader of the Indian independence movement sat – has sold for £120,000.
Huge collection of antique prams comes to auction in Wiltshire
15 July 2025The antiques and vintage sale at Gardiner Houlgate in Corsham on July 31 includes the Swift collection of antique prams.