Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
They don’t like it up ’em…
04 November 2019More refined items are available in Chorley’s Cotswolds Country House sale in Prinknash Abbey on November 19-20 but few will attract more attention than this rare survivor from the early 1940s: a roll of loo paper featuring satirical cartoons of characters from Nazi Germany.
Drought supplies ample artistic inspiration for Mod Brit duo
04 November 2019The year after Cedric Morris painted his verdant Foxgloves in 1932, a severe drought cut through much of southern Britain. The parched soil and the hardship it brought were a source of artistic inspiration for those who painted the form and the character of the rural landscape.
Porthia Prints products appear in Lyon & Turnbull's London sale
04 November 2019The Lyon & Turnbull Modern Made sale in London on November 14 includes an archive of material relating to Porthia Prints, the company established by St Ives artist Denis Mitchell and his brother in the 1950s.
Pick of the week: Buyer gets claws into rare St James’s
04 November 2019This sculptural white porcelain group of Ganymede and the Eagle is a rare survivor from the St James’s factory run by Charles Gouyn in London c.1749-60.
Queen Anne bracket clock, Godwin table and Roman glass bowls – five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week
01 November 2019ATG’s selection of hammer highlights this week includes a Queen Anne bracket clock made by Francis Robinson that more than doubled estimate.
French auction reform closer to reality as bill passes through Paris’ Senate
01 November 2019A draft bill recommending further reform to the French auction system has passed through the Senate in Paris.
Rare prototype Star Wars figures could make auction record
30 October 2019A new record for any Star Wars toy is anticipated next month with the appearance at auction of a rare prototype action figure.
Linthorpe pottery enters new price territory
28 October 2019A Linthorpe pottery sake bottle designed for the Middlesbrough pottery by Dr Christopher Dresser has sold for a record £17,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium).
Five lots to watch at auction this week including a novelty Victorian vesta case, a 1930s Britains toy lorry and a rare portrait of Rousseau
28 October 2019With estimates from £80-15,000, here are five previews of upcoming sales this week.
Charlotte Brontë’s teenage miniature manuscript returns to auction
28 October 2019Parsonage Museum ‘determined to make the most of second opportunity’ to own miniature manuscript
Regimental badge is a cut above
28 October 2019A white-metal regimental badge estimated at £50-100 sold for £4800 at Lindsay Burns (20% buyer’s premium) in Perth, Scotland, on September 3. Why? It probably hailed from the time and place of the American War of Independence (1775-83).
Hands of history for Nelson memorabilia collectors
28 October 2019The great appeal of an otherwise typical early 19th century longcase offered for sale on September 12 by Malvern auctioneer Philip Serrell was its painted dial.
Pick of the week: No.1 microscope proves it’s still the best
28 October 2019The opening lot of Flints Auctions’ photographica and scientific instruments sale in Reading on October 18 was an exceptional Victorian microscope.