Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Pick of the Week: A window into Zettler prices
17 July 2017The Zettler Glass Manufactory was founded in Munich in 1870 by Francis Xavier Zettler (1841-1916) and his father-in-law Joseph Gabriel Mayer (1808-83) – two men who combined a deep religious conviction with a love of medieval culture.
The many faces of Burmantofts
17 July 2017It was, said specialist Michael Jeffery, “one of, if not the finest, collections of Burmantofts put together by a private individual”.
Knoedler art fraudster Glafira Rosales ordered to pay $81m to victims
13 July 2017Glafira Rosales, the Long Island art dealer who in 2013 pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in the Knoedler art forgery case, has been ordered to pay $81m to victims of the fraud.
Antiques dealer accused of receiving and selling stolen items worth thousands of pounds
13 July 2017A dealer is on trial in Newport Crown Court charged with 11 counts of fraud and three of handling stolen goods.
Chiswick Auctions makes bold move to fill vacuum after closure of Christie's South Kensington
10 July 2017West London‘s Chiswick Auctions is to open a new showroom in South Kensington manned by at least eight former Christie’s staff.
Pick of the Week: Roar power fuels medieval record
10 July 2017A pair of lions from the funerary monument of Charles V of France was the toast of Christie’s Exceptional sale in London on July 6.
Reflections on the £390,000 ‘perfect storm’
10 July 2017A moment of good old-fashioned saleroom drama emerged at Christie’s antiquities sale on July 5 when an Etruscan bronze mirror, estimated at £10,000-15,000, sold at £390,000 (plus 25/20/12% buyer’s premium). The buyer was a European institution.
Pick of the Week: Riding the £23,000 Brompton omnibus
03 July 2017A highlight of Sworders’ Country House sale in Stansted Mountfitchet on June 27 was a rare tinplate London omnibus.
Focus on contemporary designers at auction
03 July 2017For previous generations of artist jewellers, from René Lalique to Andrew Grima, retail sales and private commissions were everything. Typically it was only much later in the collecting lifecycle, after a period of posthumous reassessment and rediscovery, that their work appeared at auction with any great regularity.
Agate’s growing appeal
03 July 2017Dendritic agate – a pale chalcedony with treelike inclusions caused by traces of iron or manganese – is a relatively lowly stone but was a favourite of Russian jewellers in particular. Carl Fabergé used it in many pieces in a country where it is considered a stone of longevity, good health and prosperity.
Jewellery auction previews
03 July 2017A selection of stand-out jewellery lots from regional auctions.
Final flowering for Garden Museum
03 July 2017The collection of Tiffany jewels offered by Christie’s New York (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on June 20 was the finest at auction in recent memory.
A cluster of Nossiter results
03 July 2017Bonhams’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) sale in Knightsbridge on June 14 included a group of pieces attributed to the British Arts & Crafts jeweller and designer Dorrie Nossiter (1893-1977).
Telling tales from Farouk to Thatcher
03 July 2017Stealing all the headlines at Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) Fine Jewels sale in London on June 7 was the £540,000, 26ct ’tenner’ diamond, bought by the vendor at a boot fair in the 1980s. However, among the 370 lots were items with more illustrious provenances.
Get ahead in the East with a tiara
03 July 2017Tiaras have enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, particularly in Russia and the Baltic States where jeans and a diamond fascinator are de rigueur at informal high-society events.
Giuliano and the Indian influence
03 July 2017Indian design was a prolific influence in Carlo Giuliano’s style. Already seen at the 1851 Great Exhibition, interest in technicolour jewellery from the sub-continent rose to new levels when Victoria became Empress of India in 1876.
Love detected in the East Riding
03 July 2017This medieval gold posy ring with a Lombardic inscription is a type that was common in England and France in the 13th and early 14th centuries. After around 1350, Gothic script became popular.
Europe ‘not a haven’ for ancient loot says global trade body
26 June 2017The global trade body for antiquities dealers has insisted that Europe does not provide a ready market for looted artefacts from conflict zones.
Pick of the Week: Bidders go ape for rare Sèvres teapot
26 June 2017A Sèvres teapot from the Louis-Philippe era sold for an unexpected £13,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Kingham & Orme in Broadway, Worcestershire, on June 17.
Massive faience charger leads Burmantofts bonanza
26 June 2017A massive Burmantofts faience charger sold for £13,000 (plus 22% buyer’s premium) at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury on June 22 – the highlight of a remarkable collection of more than 700 pieces by the Leeds factory.