Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ for Aristophil
25 March 2017The legal impasse surrounding the restitution of thousands of historical documents and manuscripts from the scandal-hit Aristophil investment scheme was finally broken last week.
10th century Gospels return to Germany at $3m
25 March 2017Following a deal between the German state and specialist manuscripts dealer Les Enluminures, this 10th century illuminated Gospels created at Liesborn Abbey will return to Westphalia.
New home for Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions
18 March 2017Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions is to hold the first sale in its new Pall Mall home in April.
Bonhams brings best under one roof
18 March 2017Bonhams will conduct the first of a new format flagship sale next month.
CSK to close: industry reaction
18 March 2017Reaction from ex-CSK specialists to the announcement that the saleroom will be closing.
Silver linings: previews from the upcoming season
18 March 2017From small-scale miniatures to intricate, elaborate pieces, we preview silver highlights from upcoming auctions and fairs both in London and the regions
Putting art and soul into textiles
18 March 2017Dealer on a mission to establish such works alongside more ‘serious’ collecting fields
Christie’s South Kensington: an ‘end of an era’ moment
18 March 2017As the market evolves, auction rooms will inevitably come and go. But few will leave their mark like Christie’s South Kensington.
What closure of CSK means for dealers, London and the regions
18 March 2017Much will depend on what the plan is for King Street and for the firm’s online-only sales (a growing but small fragment of the Christie’s business totalling £49.8m last year).
Bonhams: gold box by Hancock
18 March 2017The engraved inscription to this gold box reads: A Common Council holden in the Chamber of the Guildhall of the City of London on Thursday the 7th day of April 1864 resolved that the honorary freedom of this city be presented to General Giuseppe Garibaldi on the occasion of his visit to this country as a tribute of respect to the most generous, brave and disinterested of patriots.
Pick of the Week: Royalist rarity takes £20,000
18 March 2017Estimated at £1500-2000, this rare English delft dish sold for £20,000 (plus 22.5% buyer’s premium) at Cheffins in Cambridge on March 8.
Guidance as all rosewood joins CITES list
18 March 2017European CITES management authorities published a nine-page guidance report last week following a decision to protect all species of rosewood.
Survey of the scientific sale scene
18 March 2017Tennants’ (20/18.5/17.5% buyer’s premium) sale of Scientific and Musical Instruments, Cameras and Tools on February 17 included a rare brass altazimuth theodolite, signed by London instrument makers Heath and Wing. Estimated at just £300-400, it sold in its original box together with wooden tripod at £10,000.
Questions raised over methodology of report that calls for changes to ivory regulation
14 March 2017A report out today (March 14) calls for "significant structural changes" to the laws governing the sale of ivory in the UK but trade bodies have queried its methodology, citing low response rates.
Art and antiques industry reacts to impending closure of Christie’s South Kensington
13 March 2017The news of the impending closure of Christie’s South Kensington may not have come as a great surprise but, without doubt, its demise seems like an ‘end of an era’ moment.
Alert sounds over ‘duty dodger’ silver whistles
11 March 2017SILVER boatswain whistles from a collection pulled from sale by the Antique Plate Committee nine years ago have resurfaced on the market.
Six-figure Chinese results in the regions
11 March 2017A LARGE wucai fish jar sold for a house-record £810,000 at Fellows’ auction in Birmingham on February 27.
Fabergé cutlery returns to Harrogate
11 March 2017A BOXED set of Fabergé cutlery, together with an archive detailing its royal history, sold for £20,000 at Christchurch, Dorset, auction house Bulstrodes on March 2.
Pick of the Week: British radical loved by the Americans
11 March 2017ESTIMATED at £800-1200, this 5in (12.5cm) high creamware mug decorated with a portrait of the radical politician and journalist John Wilkes (1725-97) sold for £10,000 (plus 22% buyer’s premium) to lead the ceramics and glass sale at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on February 28.
Tourist souvenir or tribal art rarity? Swiss art dealer’s Easter Island figure sells for £95,000 at Berkshire auction
09 March 2017There was some good old fashioned saleroom drama at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions in Newbury yesterday when a moai kavakava style figure, estimated to bring just £400-600, sold at £95,000. The buyer in Berkshire was from Australia.