Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Box ‘made for the Siamese market’ makes 17-times estimate Dreweatts
06 July 2020A highpoint of the Dreweatts (25% buyer’s premium) ‘lockdown’ sale of Asian art in Newbury was provided by this 19th century Chinese export silver gilt and enamelled box.
Auction previews: issue 2450
06 July 2020Sixteen upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.
Portobello dealer’s collection of kitchenalia and more proves a sell-out at Newbury auction
06 July 2020Joan Dunk (1930-2019) was a Portobello Road market stalwart. Her stall, for decades an outside pitch on the corner of Westbourne Grove, was affectionately known as IDA – the trade name of an early 20th century German kitchen equipment manufacturer which she adapted to mean ‘Interesting Domestic Appliances’.
Silver: Examples from across the world lead to choice selection at auctions
06 July 2020Silver made in both Britain and the Continent provides a wide variety for buyers via auctions and dealers across the globe. Here ATG picks out a selection of 13 recent sales and upcoming lots.
De Morgan sets house record in Fife
06 July 2020This 12½in (31cm) ruby lustre jar and cover, a textbook piece from William De Morgan’s Sands End Pottery (1888-1907), was the star at a recent sale at Bowler & Binnie (16% buyer’s premium) in Dunfermline.
Sought-after Airfix set stars in our pick of five auction highlights this week
03 July 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes an Airfix scale model Attack Force battle set complete in its original packaging that made over 30-times estimate in Suffolk.
‘Yongzheng’ lotus mouth vase passes £1m at Skinner
29 June 2020The latest sale of Asian Works of Art held online by Skinner of Marlborough, Massachusetts included this blue and white bottle vase with a Yongzheng (1722-36) mark.
Art Nouveau jewellery shines across the globe
29 June 2020The medium of jewellery provided perhaps the greatest canvas for the new international style that flowed through the decorative arts around the turn of the 20th century.
A new benchmark for Vietnamese ceramics
29 June 2020Christie’s claimed a new record for Vietnamese ceramics when a large 15th century blue and white storage jar sold for a surprise €380,000 (£339,300) as part of the Art d'Asie sale in Paris.
Jewellery: Designs evoking the new expression of the early 20th century
29 June 2020Jewellery provided one of the great expressions of the Art Nouveau style. Here ATG reports on four exceptional items made in four different countries in the early years of the 20th century
Sarah Bernhardt: jewels from the first global celebrity, quand même
29 June 2020Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) – the first actress to achieve worldwide celebrity – continues to command attention as her work on stage and screen fades into the distant past.
A Constable sketch, a Hornby locomotive and The Wind in the Willows first-edition are among the five lots to watch at auction this week
29 June 2020With estimates from £700-20,000 here are five previews of upcoming items this week.
Pair of leaf paintings come from former Bluetts director
29 June 2020These two 21in (52cm) fan leaf paintings, one with a panel of calligraphy, the other with an ink and colour landscape, are by Zhang Daquian (1899-1983).
Auction previews: issue 2449
29 June 2020Sixteen upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.
Three contrasting ways to be big in Japan
29 June 2020Two very different Japanese works on paper performed with equal gusto at Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) recent Asian art sale, both making 10-times-estimate sums for a vendor from Hertfordshire.
Peach of a scroll bears fruit in an Asian selection
29 June 2020A Qing dynasty (1644-1911) embroidered silk hanging scroll topped Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) Asian art sale on May 28, selling online for £21,000.
Studio ceramics as a way of life
29 June 2020Collector’s philosophy for his compulsive pottery buying chimed with Buddhist beliefs
Top-selling Titanic poster stars in our pick of six auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes
26 June 2020ATG’s selection of hammer highlights this week includes a rare White Star Line poster publicising the Olympic and Titanic ships – ‘the largest steamers in the world’.
Inscribed first edition of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone makes £100,000
22 June 2020One of the few first-edition copies of 'Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone' inscribed and signed by JK Rowling has sold at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh for £100,000 (plus 25% premium).
Qing opulence crowns Drouot’s €1.95m return
22 June 2020As the Paris auction scene got back to business, an extraordinary Qianlong mark and period porcelain vase sold at the Drouot centre last week for €1.95m (£1.77m).