Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Pick of the week: The Stobwasser box that was up to snuff
21 September 2020Economic stimulus packages are not a new phenomenon. Georg Siegmund Stobwasser (1717-76) was among the many craftsmen attracted to the Brunswick by the special privileges granted them in the city by Duke Karl I (1713-80) in the wake of the Seven Years’ War.
A Russian brooch and a sketch for a famous Antarctic explorer painting are among seven lots to watch at auction this week
21 September 2020With estimates from £1000-12,000 here are seven previews of upcoming items this week.
Wrapping the Pont Neuf – three times
21 September 2020Christo (1935-2020) is famous for the series of monumental projects to wrap landmarks around the world undertaken with his wife and collaborator Jeanne-Claude (1935-2008).
Auction of Scottish house collection provides cross-section of life in a grand country mansion
21 September 2020The allure of well-priced, market-fresh chattels from a blue-blood country estate can pique the interest of the most world-weary auctioneer or antiques dealer.
Maintaining a gold standard: Coins market focus
21 September 2020Coinex, the traditional autumn focus for the numismatic world, is cancelled this year.
Complete set of Gould’s Birds of Britain stars in our pick of five auction highlights this week
18 September 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a rare complete set of John Gould’s ‘Birds of Britain’ that doubled estimate in Gloucestershire.
Soviet propaganda porcelain plate makes over 100-times estimate in Stratford-upon-Avon
14 September 2020When, following the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolshevik government took control of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, large quantities of glazed but unpainted white hard-paste porcelain plates, cups and saucers remained at the site.
Thank you for the royal pardon – silver snuff box at Dutch auction tells story of engraver
14 September 2020This 4in (10cm) silver snuff box offered for sale at Veilinghuis de Jager in Goes, Zeeland was the subject of a learned article in the January-February Ghendtsche Tydingen, the magazine of the Ghent history society.
Pick of the Week: Browning family archive sells in Somerset
14 September 2020A cache of material related to the influential Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-61) and her family sold for close to £50,000 at Lawrences of Crewkerne.
An early television transmitter and a Mouseman cupboard are among the six lots to watch at auction this week
14 September 2020With estimates from £200-15,000 here are six previews of upcoming items this week.
Vintage Seiko watches make waves at auction
14 September 2020The Japanese battery-powered watches once viewed as cheap and lacking soul are now being taken seriously at auction despite collector snobbery
Omega Speedmaster with ‘TV’ dial sells at Richard Winterton
14 September 2020Perhaps the quirkiest of all of the many Omega Speedmaster models is this one with a cushion shape or ‘TV’ dial.
Auction previews: issue 2459
14 September 2020Thirteen upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.
On a mission to impress: collection of Omega Speedmaster chronographs emerges in Portugal
14 September 2020To mark the 40th anniversary of the Speedmaster Professional as a space exploration tool in 1997, Omega created the Missions Collection.
‘Pogue’ Seiko craved by collectors
14 September 2020The Seiko Ref 6139 or Pogue is a watch that many ‘Swiss’ collectors covet because of its good looks and space heritage.
Omega 'Ed White' Speedmaster takes £8500 in Buckinghamshire sale
14 September 2020The highlight of NASA’s 1965 Gemini IV mission was the first space walk by an American. As astronaut Ed White floated free outside the spacecraft for approximately 20 minutes in June 3 he wore an Omega Speedmaster Ref 105.003 strapped by Velcro to the outside of the left-side sleeve of his G4C space suit.
15 watches and jewellery items coming up at auction including an Art Deco butterfly brooch
14 September 2020With so many auction houses selling jewellery throughout late July and August this year, there was scarcely a summer break. However, the volume of material offered for sale will increase markedly this month. Pictured here is a brief selection of pieces available to bid for at home and abroad.
Royal clockmaker’s musical table clock stars in our pick of five auction highlights sold this week
11 September 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes an 18th century musical table clock by the London royal clockmaker John Ellicott (1706-72) that drew strong demand at an auction in the Netherlands.
US tariffs on Chinese art take effect as New York auction series begins
07 September 2020This month’s Asian art series in New York could be the last sales to avoid the new trade tariffs that have been imposed by the Trump administration.
Piamontini’s ‘ravishingly detailed’ clay model discovered at Fife estate and triples estimate at Lyon & Turnbull
07 September 2020This terracotta group of Bacchus and Ariadne was once associated with the Florentine late Baroque sculptor Giambattista Foggini (1652-1725) but is now thought to be his contemporary Giuseppe Piamontini (1664-1742).