Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Early Japanese sketches and photos reveal ‘the dress, manners, customs and country of the people’
30 June 2025Sketches at the Time of the Commencement of British Intercourse with Japan, an album containing 76 watercolours and drawings and 126 wood engravings from the last days of the Edo period, sold for £16,000 at Dominic Winter (22% buyer’s premium).
Aumbry cupboard for leftovers becomes first choice for bidders
30 June 2025A recent sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium) was led by this example of early English furniture: an oak aumbry or dole cupboard.
‘Rescue’ button from search for lost Franklin expedition bid to eight times estimate in Exeter
27 June 2025A copper button, made in 1852 as part of the effort to find survivors of the doomed Franklin expedition to the Arctic, has sold at auction for £6000.
Moorcroft carp vase nets auction record
23 June 2025A new auction high for a Moorcroft vase was set last week as the previous record holder returned to the rostrum.
Candlesticks with Austen link light up auction
23 June 2025A handsome pair of Regency period Egyptian Revival silver candlesticks with a Jane Austen connection sold well above hopes at Lacy Scott & Knight in Bury St Edmunds.
Ten works to see at Classic Art London
23 June 2025It may be a new name in the summer calendar, but this inaugural initiative is building on a firm foundation of previous ‘collegial’ events encompassing an array of selling exhibitions
Sneak peek of summer auction highlights
23 June 2025This summer, a diverse range of noteworthy lots will go under the hammer at auction houses across the UK. Her we spotlight some of these – from a flag flown at the Battle of Trafalgar and a recently attributed painting by Artemisia Gentileschi to a medieval encyclopaedia and a collection of mustard pots assembled by a former Eton housemaster
Moorcroft vase breaks its own auction record
19 June 2025A new auction high for a Moorcroft vase was set as the previous record holder returned to the rostrum.
Record-setting Moorcroft vase heads back to the auction block
17 June 2025A piece that holds the record for a Moorcroft vase at auction returns to the rostrum this week.
Two Bullock desks sell at auction on same day
16 June 2025Serendipity had it that two Regency pollard oak and ebony inlaid desks attributed to George Bullock (c.1762-1818) came for sale within a matter of hours on June 12.
Persian version of Voltaire’s Peter the Great sells at £14,000
16 June 2025This extraordinary Persian manuscript sold by Roseberys (26% buyer’s premium) is a translation of 'Voltaire’s Histoire de l’empire de Russie sous Pierre-le-Grand' and his 'Histoire de Charles XII, Roi du Suede'.
Hans up for sale then knocked down
16 June 2025Scarce complete small pamphlets produced by the fairy tales author Hans Christian Andersen come to auction ‘for first time’
Illustrator also provides a 007 cover story
16 June 2025A fine association copy of Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice was sold by Reeman Dansie (25% buyer’s premium) in Colchester on April 30.
Magnificent Iznik tile takes £195,000 price at auction
16 June 2025A rare Iznik pottery tile made for the Çini li Hamam bathhouse during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent sold for £195,000 at Lyon & Turnbull.
Antiques Roadshow expert Geoffrey Munn loans jewellery collection to V&A
13 June 2025Jewellery specialist Geoffrey Munn has placed his personal collection of historical jewels on permanent loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
You wait ages for a George Bullock desk to come along, and then…
11 June 2025Serendipity has it that two Regency pollard oak and ebony inlaid desks attributed to George Bullock (c.1762-1818) come for sale on the same day this week.
Eagle-eyed bidders spot an Art Deco delight at Italian auction
09 June 2025A hitherto unrecorded Art Deco masterwork by Armand-Albert Rateau (1882-1938) caught the eye at an Italian sale.
'UK's largest private collection of antique apothecary objects' comes to auction
09 June 2025What is touted as the UK’s largest private collection of antique apothecary objects will be sold by the Cotswold Auction Company as part of a sale in Cirencester on June 24-25.
Noke plaques take pride of place at US auction
09 June 2025Doulton designs consigned by a descendant demonstrate the ceramicist’s great glaze achievement