Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Specialists leave Christie’s as regular poster auctions end at South Kensington saleroom
21 July 2016Christie’s South Kensington have ceased regular sales of vintage posters. The leading player in the popular collecting field say that they will now offer posters for sale in online auctions when the opportunity to sell an exceptional collection arises.
Perfect timing – John Arnold pocket watch fetches £460,000 record
21 July 2016Sotheby’s established an auction record for a watch by John Arnold (1736-99) when a large silver pocket chronometer of 1781 sold at £460,000.
Sales move out of Germany as controversial culture bill becomes law
18 July 2016German auctioneers are preparing to move sales abroad following the passing of a controversial new cultural heritage law.
Star Wars rarity – Boba Fett with firing rocket offered at Vectis’ auction
14 July 2016The Rocket Firing Boba Fett has assumed legendary status among Star Wars collectors. Modelled in grey-blue plastic in advance of mass production by the Kenner factory in Ohio, it would forever remain a prototype figure.
Jewellery firms withdraw from Biennale after changes to direction and layout of Paris fair
11 July 2016The 28th edition of the Paris ‘Biennale des Antiquaires’ will include a radical shake-up of its jewellery content.
Thor hammered down at a mighty £36,000
07 July 2016The original artwork for the cover of The Mighty Thor, published by Marvel Comics in 1968, sold for £36,000 at a recent auction at Charterhouse in Sherborne, Dorset.
Board changes and new appointments at Strauss & Co following death of Stephan Welz
05 July 2016South African auction house Strauss & Co have made a number of appointments to its board in the wake of the death of founding managing director, Stephan Welz at the end of last year.
CINOA ‘needs to be leader on ivory’
04 July 2016The rising tide of regulation against ivory, and the consequent threat to the trade in antiques, was a principal subject of debate at last month’s CINOA conference in Paris.
New York museum buys medieval medal at London auction
01 July 2016This late medieval repoussé medal depicting ‘The Emperor Heraclius’s Return of the True Cross to Jerusalem’ proved the highlight of the Sir Timothy Clifford collection of Renaissance and Baroque medals sold by Morton & Eden in London.
Wellers Fine Art continue trading despite liquidation of commercial operation
30 June 2016Wellers Fine Art Ltd will continue to hold monthly sales of jewellery and watches in Guildford, despite the liquidation of a separate commercial operation.
UK antiques trade asked to take part in survey into impact of ivory ban
27 June 2016Art market stakeholders are being invited to take part in an online questionnaire on ivory.
US ivory ban: federal and state laws now in contradiction says specialist
24 June 2016The ‘final rule’ of the US law on African elephant ivory, due to come into force on July 6, puts state and federal laws in contradiction, says a leading specialist.
US ivory ‘final rule’: what you need to know
24 June 2016The ‘final rule’ of the US law on African elephant ivory is due to come into force on July 6. Here ATG’s lists the key points of the legislation including where exemptions apply.
Augustus John drawing of Jacob Epstein sells for £80,000 at Nottingham auction
23 June 2016A rediscovered Augustus John (1878-1961) pencil drawing of his friend Jacob Epstein sold for £80,000 at Mellors & Kirk in Nottingham.
Approved Paul Gauguin still life emerges at Connecticut auction
23 June 2016An 1885 Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) oil, ‘hidden in plain sight’ for decades, carries an estimate of $800,000-$1.2m at Litchfield County Auctions’ June 29-30 sale in the US.
Leading Paris furniture dealers face exclusion from Biennale fair
23 June 2016Kraemer Gallery and Didier Aaron & Cie, the two leading members of the Paris trade embroiled in a faking scandal, are expected to be excluded from the forthcoming Biennale des Antiquaires, a source close to the French trade has told ATG.
California ivory challenge reaches courtroom
21 June 2016A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles heard the opening salvos in a legal challenge to California’s uncompromising law that bans the sale of practically all ivory objects – including those fashioned from narwhal and walrus tusks and sperm whale teeth.
Top French furniture dealers respond to allegations of forgeries in Versailles
16 June 2016Two barons of the Paris antiques trade have been questioned in connection with the so-called Affaire Jean Lupu, a growing scandal surrounding fakes.
Algernon Newton view of Notting Hill brings £65,000 bidding storm in Gloucestershire auction
10 June 2016The small loan exhibition ‘The Peculiarity of Algernon Newton (1880-1968)’ by dealer Daniel Katz in 2012 helped put on the map a British painter who went largely unrecognised during his lifetime.
Chinese-made clock in European style chimes at $1.27m
03 June 2016A classic Chinese-made European style automaton clock or ‘Sing Song’ sold for $1.27m (£907,140) at Fontaine’s in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.