Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Astronomical price for ‘masterpiece’ clock at Dreweatts auction
18 September 2026A 16th century Renaissance astronomical table clock was among the stand-out lots at Dreweatts recent clocks sale.
Turner watercolour with a Farnley Hall provenance on offer in US auction
18 September 2026New York saleroom Auctions at Showplace is offering a well-documented Turner watercolour on October 8.
Coins & Medals: Heads and tales from London’s numismatic showpiece Coinex
18 September 2026Coinex returns to Grosvenor Square this month with 50 exhibitors and a raft of auctions.
Microscope attributed to eminent maker Adams
18 September 2026Eminent Georgian instrument maker George Adams (c.1709-72) first described his ‘variable’ microscope in 1771 in the fourth edition of his Micrographia Illastrata.
Cartier ladybug hits the spots in London
18 September 2026Cartier debuted the Coccinelle ladybug brooch in 1935, and the design – a whimsical and colourful symbol of good fortune – was popular into the 1940s.
Letter from the doomed Titanic tops estimate at Henry Aldridge
18 September 2026Such messages from second-class passengers on the liner are some of the rarest to be offered at auction
Lost then found, two portraits resurface in French auction
18 September 2026French neoclassicist Marie Guilhelmine Benoist (1768-1826) is another of the long-overlooked female artists whose work is being reappraised by the market in the 21st century.
Patek Philippe watch attracts worldwide interest at Penzance auction
18 September 2026The Patek Philippe Ref 448 dress watch is one of original Calatrava references, named after the ornate ‘Calatrava’ cross that is part of its brand.
18th century cartoon of Britain taking on America emerges in London auction
18 September 2026Issued in January 1781 by London publisher Robert Wilkinson, the caricature The Ballance of Power depicts the figure of Britannia standing as Justice proclaiming, No one injures me with impunity.
‘Rockefeller’ porcelain returns to the rostrum
18 September 2026Among the most coveted of all the standard Chinese export porcelain designs is the so-called ‘Rockefeller’ pattern or Palace ware.
Louis Vuitton luxury luggage showcased in catalogues
18 September 2026The Louis Vuitton 1914 catalogue was issued as the company opened its flagship store at 70 Avenue des Champs-Élysée.
Silver stand-outs in Newcastle auction
18 September 2026An unusual lot offered in the Fine Silver sale at Anderson & Garland (25% buyer’s premium) in Newcastle upon Tyne was a ‘pair’ of oval teapots and stands modelled as staved barrels: one a ‘period’ example with marks for John Harris, London 1786, the other by early Victorian maker John Terry (London 1838).
One-shot at the Atomic Age featuring Bat-Man’s return
18 September 2026Issued by Agar Publishing in September 1947, Atomic Age Comic was a British answer to the action-adventure comics of the American Golden Age.
Rediscovered ‘Grand Tour’ maiolica plaques to highlight specialist sale in Salisbury
15 September 2026Two maiolica plaques by the celebrated Renaissance artist Francesco Xanto Avelli (1487-1542) have resurfaced after more than 140 years out of the public eye.
McAlpine collection: Bonkers but brilliant for buyers
11 September 2026Lots from the extraordinary collection constructed by the McAlpines come to auction in Berkshire
Salver salutes the skills and success of a politician
11 September 2026A recent sale at Moore Allen & Innocent (21% buyer’s premium) in Cirencester included a massive Victorian silver tray or salver by the prominent silversmith Edward Kerr Read (London 1873).
‘Missing’ miniature of Mohawk ally of the British during the American Revolution emerges at auction
09 September 2026A ‘missing’ portrait miniature of Joseph Brant (1743-1807), the famous Mohawk ally of the British during the American Revolution, sold for Can$55,000 (£29,505) at auction in Canada.
Durham Ox dishes up at auction
04 September 2026A 20in (51cm) transfer printed pearlware dish picturing the Durham Ox sold for £3000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at an Antiques & Interiors sale at Bellmans in Billingshurst, West Sussex, on September 1-2.
Fuel tank relic find ‘from historic flight’ emerges at auction
04 September 2026According to a typewritten record, this brass cap for a 19-gallon fuel tank was retrieved directly from the crash site of John Alcock and Arthur Brown’s Vickers Vimy biplane in Clifden, County Galway.