Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Major Märklin rarity ignites bidding battle as c.1905 fire station makes €220,000
29 September 2025One of the great Märklin rarities came for sale at the latest auction at antique toy specialist Lankes Auktionshaus in Krefeld in western Germany.
Moving and macabre mementoes that mattered for Jacobites
29 September 2025A rare snuff box commemorating the escape of Charles II from Parliamentary forces after the Battle of Worcester was the highlight of Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood’s (26% buyer’s premium) silver and jewellery sale in Exeter.
Ticket for George III's coronation brings demand in Shropshire sale
29 September 2025This official ticket allowed admission to Westminster Abbey for the coronation of George III on September 22, 1761.
Books auction previews: Bumper crop of autumn treats on offer
29 September 2025Colder weather is on the way but so too are plenty of book sales to warm you up. Here we pick out a selection of upcoming lots
Plaques that mean no meat, alcohol or sex
29 September 2025A recent sale at The Cotswold Auction Company (24% buyer’s premium) in Cirencester included three famille rose porcelain abstinence plaques.
Kangxi bowl once bought for £95, now £65,000 at Wimbledon Auctions
29 September 2025Invoice reveals the original deal for a Kangxi bowl that emerged from a London private collection
DNA pioneer Francis Crick’s diaries emerge at Essex auction
26 September 2025Diaries written by Francis Crick (1916-2004), the English molecular biologist who played a crucial role in deciphering the helical structure of the DNA molecule, come for sale at Essex firm Sworders this autumn.
Special commission: Dunhill lighter showing 50-1 Ascot winner sells at David Duggleby
24 September 2025A specially commissioned Dunhill 'aquarium' table lighter marking the victory of an unfancied horse at Ascot sold for £12,500 at auction in Scarborough.
Pick of the week: Carlton Ware ceramics record set in the Scottish Borders
22 September 2025A new auction record for Carlton Ware has been set in the Scottish Borders.
End of an era as Hyde Park Antiques closes New York gallery
22 September 2025After 60 years on Broadway, Hyde Park Antiques is closing its gallery and holding a stock clearance sale at Sotheby’s.
Anglo-Saxon discoveries on their way to Coinex
22 September 2025Spink’s Official Coinex auction on September 30 to October 1 features two significant discoveries from the Anglo-Saxon period.
Charleston buys collaborative Bloomsbury Group painting at Gorringe’s
22 September 2025A rare collaborative work by Duncan Grant (1885-1978) and his lover, the Russian-American artist George Bergen (1903-84), has sold at auction to Charleston, the East Sussex farmhouse where the painting was created.
New views on old Willow and processes of cultural exchange
22 September 2025An exhibition at the Spode Museum devoted to the near-ubiquitous Willow pattern is bringing together two world cities bound by a unique shared heritage
White gloves for the Tony Martin collection
22 September 2025Stock and private collection of Cornwall dealer brings the crowds back to Plymouth
Looe customs in the 18th century
22 September 2025Back in July 2008 a rare Bristol delftware plate surfaced for sale. Decorated in the bianco sopra bianco style, it featured a bold image of a man on horseback and was inscribed 'A. Bosavern, Looe 1763'.
Five-year loan deal to put Thornhill collection on display
22 September 2025It was announced on September 6 that the University of Staffordshire has partnered with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to house the Thornhill collection of predominantly Chinese ceramics at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, with the aim of exhibiting it to the public for the first time since the 1980s.
Previews of sales surrounding Coinex
22 September 2025Coinex, the most important event on the British calendar for many serious coin collectors, opens at the Biltmore Hotel in Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square on September 26-27
Pattern book exercise in Victorian marketing
22 September 2025That Willow became the most popular and persistent of the many transfer-printed landscape patterns was in part due to a stroke of 19th century marketing genius.