Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Wedgwood collection emerges from collector’s fairyland flat
15 July 2019Visit by auctioneer to a regular auction-goer’s apartment uncovers Wedgwood collection.
Lost Marlborough jewel unearthed in Salisbury
15 July 2019A sapphire intaglio ring coming up for sale in Salisbury this week has been recognised as one of the Marlborough gems. At the eleventh hour, and after a deluge of interest, the ring, with its octagonal faceted stone carved with the bust of a Roman emperor (probably Julius Caesar), has been re-catalogued.
Welsh art, Qajar armour and a book on hysteria – five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
12 July 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes an oil painting by Welsh artist Sir Kyffin Williams and a group of 19th century Qajar armour.
Beatles' original 1962 management contract sold at auction
12 July 2019The Beatles’ original management contract with Brian Epstein has been sold at Sotheby’s for £220,000 (plus premium).
Seven highlights from Christie’s sale of a Rothschild collection
11 July 2019Christie’s sale Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection was arguably the most eye-catching auction of the summer season in London.
Sapphire intaglio ring identified as one of the long-lost Marlborough gems
10 July 2019Ahead of its auction in Salisbury, a sapphire intaglio ring has been re-catalogued after being recognised as one of the renowned Marlborough gems.
Christie’s counters Egypt’s threat to sue over £4m sale of Tutankhamun head
09 July 2019Christie’s has reiterated that it “carried out extensive due diligence” into a head of Tutankhamun after the Egyptian National Committee for Antiquities Repatriation (NCAR) said that it will instruct a UK law firm to file a lawsuit over its £4m sale.
Pick of the week: Print shows bidding for books way back in c.1700
08 July 2019A rare copy of the earliest-known depiction of a book auction emerged for sale in Gloucestershire at the end of last month.
Masterpieces to a Rothschild’s taste tempt buyers during a packed London sales week
08 July 2019The 52-lot auction of furniture, paintings and works of art collected by members of the Rothschild family was among the most animated during a packed week of London showpiece sales.
Pugin parliamentary letter box posts £4200
08 July 2019On December 27, 1851, the architect Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) wrote to Augustus Pugin (1812-52) with a progress report on the interior decoration of the Palace of Westminster.
Collection of Wedgwood Fairyland lustre and rare cricket memorabilia – five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
05 July 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes a surprise result for art pottery in Macclesfield and a discovery of Wedgwood Fairyland lustre in Nottingham.
Big bids from collectors for Moorcroft little and large
01 July 2019The recent sale of a single-owner collection of Moorcroft pottery by Kingham & Orme in Evesham demonstrated two distinct faces of the Staffordshire factory.
Christie's auction off extraordinary group of Indian courtly weapons with the Al Thani edge
01 July 2019Christie’s marathon 12-hour auction of Indian jewellery and works of art from the Al Thani family held in New York included the finest collection of courtly weapons to come to auction in well over a generation.
Surprise result as Fabergé-Stroganov collaboration helps vase to 157-times estimate
01 July 2019Morphy Auctions’ latest Fine & Decorative Arts sale held in Denver, Pennsylvania included this unusual 7½in (19cm) Russian silver-mounted pottery vase.
Pick of the week: Silver pomander from Tudor period sells above predictions at Cirencester auction
01 July 2019The origin of ‘Tudor’ globe pomanders is still under discussion. It is generally thought that most originate from northern Europe but were probably made by itinerant craftsmen in a number of countries.
Moorcroft in miniature – a microcosm of the art pottery world
01 July 2019No good library of British art pottery literature is complete without a copy of Paul Atterbury’s 'Moorcroft'. The jacket illustration alone with its myriad tube-lined miniatures in a bewildering range of forms and patterns is particularly memorable. More than one collector has attempted to emulate the beguiling display.
Chinese vase and trinket make multi-estimate prices after emerging at regional auctions
01 July 2019Catalogued as a ‘tin glazed hand painted Chinese vase – 17in (42cm) tall’ and estimated at £50-80, a late 17th century Kangxi period famille verte porcelain vase of waisted trumpet form sold on June 22 for a healthier £12,000 – 150 times the top estimate.
A pietra dura and ebonised casket and an early 17th-century English text – five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
28 June 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes a pottery faience charger and a Fijian sperm whale tooth pendant.
Fur flies in taxidermy oddity
24 June 2019‘Boxing Badgers’ is one of just two known occasions when the celebrated taxidermist Peter Spicer (1839-1935) ventured into the strange world of the anthropomorphic tableau.
Tiffany brooch, George Chinnery drawing and Chinese ‘official's hat’ chairs – six auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
21 June 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes a Tiffany tiger orchid brooch and a pair of Chinese huanghuali armchairs of a type often called ‘official's hat’ chairs.