Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Former rectory supplies library of religious works
09 June 2025Bibles from the Mulberry House sold well at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet
Embassy Tableware served as symbol of British pride
09 June 2025In 1962, Lord John Hope, the Minister of Works in the Macmillan government commissioned David Mellor (1930-2009) to ‘supply silver you have designed to every British embassy in the world’.
Games play their part in Essex sale
09 June 2025Nine-strong collection of Georgian and Victorian games counts as a highlight of mixed auction
A selection of splendid cigarette cases
09 June 2025Pictured below are three fine silver and enamel cigarette cases dating from the turn of the 20th century sold at auction in recent weeks.
Silver: York items set to shine in the Michael Baggott collection
09 June 2025The popular dealer amassed an impressive array of items assayed in the city
Birmingham silver ‘toys’ played with practical objects
09 June 2025From the late 18th century, Birmingham was the centre for the making of ‘toys’ – small decorative objects including boxes, nutmeg graters, buckles, caddy spoons, vinaigrettes and rattles, fashioned from silver.
Silver gorilla evolves to double estimate sum
09 June 2025The many models of anthropomorphic primates that proliferated British decorative arts in the 1860s typically reference Charles Darwin’s provocative and often lampooned 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection', first published in 1859.
Light shed on the Arctic
09 June 2025This 2ft 6in (75cm) high five-light candelabrum hallmarked for Sheffield 1844 and the firm Creswick & Co (Thomas, James and Nathaniel Creswick) is both an impressive example of early Victorian table silver and a memento of the heroic era of polar exploration.
Spoon that survived War of the Roses bid over three times estimate
09 June 2025Spoons are among the very few pieces of English silver surviving from the period of Wars of the Roses.
Prof Zacron/Robert Drew was drawn in by British art exhibition posters
09 June 2025As part of a Fine Art auction in Surrey on June 25, Catherine Southon is selling a collection of British art exhibition posters from the estate of Professor Zacron (Robert Drew), the maverick artist best known for the album cover of Led Zeppelin III.
Michael Baggott’s collection comes to Salisbury auction
04 June 2025Woolley & Wallis is selling the private collection of silver specialist Michael Baggott (1973-2025) who died unexpectedly in January of this year.
Rediscovered tea caddy in form of a Georgian house sells at Sheffield auction
04 June 2025The fashion for tea caddies and other boxes in the form of houses or other decorative buildings emerged in the last quarter of the 18th century and continued into the 19th century.
Rimbault clock bid to five times estimate at Dutch sale
02 June 2025A fine English table clock by Huguenot maker Stephen Rimbault (1711-86) generated plenty of competition at auction in the Netherlands.
Pick of the week: Call in the cavalry for an Indian toy soldier at auction
02 June 2025The sale of a private collection of arms and armour at C&T Auctions in Kent, on May 13 included a brass figure of a cavalryman from a small but well-known group of Indian toy soldiers.
Jewellery: The Jean-Pierre Cornille collection of Christian Dior creates a costume drama
02 June 2025This impressive array of costume jewellery sold in Paris showcased the work of half a century and seven creative directors of the Dior brand.
Feel blue but buoyant thanks to Cartier design
02 June 2025Cartier’s aquamarine jewellery appears to have been predominantly produced from the London workshop starting in 1932.
Rings that come with emotional messages
02 June 2025While Whitby jet was particularly fashionable during the reign of Victoria, it had been a popular material for jewellery from the Romano British period onwards.
‘Deeply moving’ Ribera work went from shed to saleroom
02 June 2025A painting by Spanish artist Jusepe de Ribera (1591- 1652) which emerged from a shed in rural Sweden drew competition at an auction in Stockholm.
Sapphire ring soars to Irish highest price for jewellery at auction
02 June 2025The sale of Fine Jewellery & Ladies Watches at Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dublin on May 13 included an impressive retro sapphire and diamond ‘tank’ ring, c.1940, that came for sale from the ‘private collection of a Continental lady’.