Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Robot record for a Masudaya attic find
12 October 2020After 60 years in an attic, an extremely rare battery-operated Machine Man robot with its original box rolled into the spotlight at Morphy in Denver, Pennsylvania.
A tinplate toy bus, a George IV side cabinet and a railway carriage inkwell are among the six lots to watch at auction this week
12 October 2020With estimates from £200-12,000 here are six previews of upcoming items this week.
Auction previews: issue 2463
12 October 2020A selection of 14 upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland.
Islamic & Indian art: a selection of hammer highlights including a painting of Mehmed II
12 October 2020A selection of stand-out Islamic & Indian auction results.
Bow red squirrel is a rarity
12 October 2020Estimated at £7000-10,000, this very rare Bow model of a red squirrel, c.1760-65, sold for £20,000 at Bonhams’ (27.5/25% buyer’s premium) Fine Ceramics and Glass sale in Knightsbridge on September 29.
Lothians crock rates high in kitchenalia
12 October 2020A small group of Victorian transfer-printed stoneware crocks offered by Taylor’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Montrose on September 16 included a 7½in (18cm) butter crock with the logo of the Lothians Dairy Co of Slate Ford Road, Edinburgh.
‘Dirty Dozen’ Grana sets new £18,000 high
12 October 2020A Grana Ministry of Defence wristwatch – the hardest to find of the so-called ‘Dirty Dozen’ watches made by 12 Swiss manufacturers for the British army– sold for £18,000 at Thomas Miller in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Islamic & Indian art: 11 auction previews for October 2020
12 October 2020A wealth of Indian and Islamic art and artefacts are available to view and buy in late October from both participants at Asian Art in London and auction houses whose sales are timed to coincide with the festival.
When smoke gets in your buys
12 October 2020Essex saleroom disperses superb pipe collection amassed over more than 50 years.
Calvert name check boosts chess set value
12 October 2020The white ‘rooks’ to this 19th century carved and turned wood chess set, offered by TW Gaze (18% buyer’s premium) in Diss in August 12, are stamped Calvert 189 Fleet Street to their bases.
Carved Cotswold stone seats take their place in pick of five auction highlights sold this week
09 October 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes stone seats unseen for decades and discovered in a hidden sunken garden.
Moorcroft bidders make 1912 overtures
05 October 2020Two pieces of Moorcroft Pomegranate pattern made exceptional sums within a matter of 24 hours at the end of September. Both were early versions of the popular pattern and dated 1912 – the year William Moorcroft left his studio at James Macintyre to run his own factory in Cobridge.
Court Glasshouse rarity tops unseen Oxfordshire collection
05 October 2020Estimated at £20,000- 30,000, a façon de Venise gilded, enamel led and engraved vase and cover sold for £70,000 (plus 27.5/25% buyer’s premium) last week.
Pick of the week: Slide rule measures up at £11,000
05 October 2020The invention of the gauger’s slide rule in the 1680s is generally credited to one Thomas Everard of Southampton.
Stevens medal goes to BM
05 October 2020Numismatic consultant Daniel Fearon has brokered the sale of a cast-bronze medal by the Victorian sculptor Alfred Stevens (1817-75) to the British Museum.
An Arts & Crafts tile and an Irish neoclassical silver teapot are among the five lots to watch at auction this week
05 October 2020With estimates from £250-30,000 here are five previews of upcoming items this week.
Eastern highlights
05 October 2020This 19th century Indian knife with a shaped and carved horn handle comes in its original morocco case.
Bow model of red squirrel stars in our pick of five auction highlights sold this week
02 October 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a rare Bow model of a red squirrel from c.1760-65 that doubled estimate at Bonhams.
Sketch of Captain Oates walking to his death makes £23,000 in Essex
29 September 2020A sketch for the painting ‘A Very Gallant Gentleman’ by John Charles Dollman (1851-1934) sold for £23,000 at Sworders last week.