Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Enough to render you ‘speechless’: exceptional Chinese art amassed by industrialist
18 November 2024In storage for a century, a remarkable group of Chinese works of art has sold for £870,000 at a south London auction.
How special quality can help silver to beat a scrapyard fate
18 November 2024With the scrap price of silver at such a high level the sad truth is that many items will end up in the melting pot.
Qing wares deliver strong performance at UK Asian art series
15 November 2024The wider market is increasingly selective, but Qing mark and period porcelain continues to shine in the saleroom.
Clock-watch sounds the alarm at £27,000
11 November 2024This remarkable Charles II period silver clock-watch with alarm appeared for sale at Wotton Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire this month.
Meissen slapstick figure highlights Merkle collection auction
11 November 2024The second instalment of Meissen porcelain from the collection of German businessman Hadrian Maria Oskar Merkle (1942-2018) was sold at a recent sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr of Paris.
16th century purse makes 60 times estimate
11 November 2024This late Tudor or early Stuart purse or sweet bag with a connection to Mary, Queen of Scots sold for £30,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at a recent sale at Hutchinson Scott.
Danish designer's storage system among five lots to watch
11 November 2024With estimates from £150, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week
Burne-Jones family connection brings in bidders
11 November 2024Four items including an Irish harp and William Morris designs boasted a family connection to the artist
Pioneering 19th century phones connect with buyers
11 November 2024One of the very first commercial box telephones appeared for sale at White’s Auctions (27% buyer’s premium) in Middleboro, Massachusetts.
Through the tiny keyhole: intricate diorama of a locksmith’s shop secures attention
11 November 2024This Edwardian diorama offered by Smiths of Newent (20% buyer’s premium) in Gloucestershire depicts a locksmith’s shop.
Getty last selection gave a taste of Eastern exoticism
11 November 2024Getty collection provides another auction highlight while glass and patinated bronze lanterns also shine in Massachusetts
Books & Works On Paper: auction previews
11 November 2024A special selection of upcoming lots raging from the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Beano to Oppenheimer's passport and Machiavelli’s The Prince
A London Cartier Tank sets Birmingham house record
11 November 2024Updated 1960s and 70s versions of earlier Cartier classics are much in demand. The best are those made for the London boutique during the Jean-Jacques Cartier years, with the cases commissioned from the London workshop Wright & Davies and the manual wind movements supplied by Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The pick so far of Ashley Down Bristol orphanage samplers
11 November 2024The highest price at auction for a Bristol orphanage sampler was registered at Mellors & Kirk (24% buyer’s premium) in Nottingham.
Lock-inspired tables on the auction block in the US
11 November 2024George II period furniture bought by ‘international bidder’ for five-times top estimate in Connecticut
Claudet helped to develop UK photography
11 November 2024Although born in the La Croix-Rousse district of Lyon, Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797-1867) is best known for his contribution to the history of British photography.
Estonian artist Wiiralt brings party time and hellish experience
11 November 2024Two of the most familiar works by Estonian graphic artist Eduard Wiiralt (1898-1954) came for sale in St Paul, Minnesota, on September 17.
Sotheby’s sets highest price for a piece of Asian art in the UK for seven years
08 November 2024Recently rediscovered in a German family collection where they have been for at least a century, a pair of Ming dynasty wucai ‘fish’ jars and covers have sold at Sotheby’s for £8.3m.
Reunited De Rothschild vases take top result at auction of works from dealer Tomasso
04 November 2024Dreweatts’ sale of items from the Leeds and London dealership Tomasso included a recently reunited pair of porphyry vases.