Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Seven up for complete set of famous Sowerby work
20 May 2024The Science, Medicine & Early Technology auction at Flints (25% buyer’s premium) in Thatcham, Berkshire on May 1 was led by a complete seven-volume set of The Mineral Conchology of Great Britain by James Sowerby (1757-1822).
Prince of Speed Georges Hamel designed nifty posters now sought after by collectors
20 May 2024Original printings of two of the most familiar automotive posters sold for £15,000 each at Lyon & Turnbull (26% buyer’s premium).
Damascened casket linked to Henry VIII’s metalworker comes to auction in Barcelona
14 May 2024Iron and gold inlayed casket depicting sieges of Boulogne sur Mer is attributed to court gunsmith and armourer Diego de Çaias.
Christie’s website down, victim of apparent cyberattack
14 May 2024Christie’s has been the victim of an apparent cyberattack that has brought down its website.
Wreath believed to have been sent to Napoleon on Saint Helena takes five-figure sum in Spanish auction
14 May 2024Bidders battled for a floral wreath sent by supporters of the exiled and imprisoned emperor.
Dining table and chairs given by Mouseman to his daughter
13 May 2024Elements of a collection of ‘Mouseman’ furniture made by Robert Thompson (1876-1955) for his daughter Elsie come for sale in Yorkshire.
The words of God with a silver lining: miniature silver psalter comes to London book fair
13 May 2024This miniature 17th century psalter in a contemporary pierced and engraved openwork silver binding is priced at £15,000 by Bernard Quaritch at Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair.
Pick of the week: Gillray in his own time and place
13 May 2024Remarkably, although a very successful and popular artist, no accounts of the work of the Georgian caricaturist James Gillray (1756-1815) were published in England during his lifetime.
A ‘dog kennel’ vesta case is among five lots to watch
13 May 2024With estimates from £300, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Auction previews: Eye-catching lots to look out for
13 May 2024A selection of stand-out lots coming up at a variety of auctions
Colour plate books: Around the world with Norman Bobins
13 May 2024ATG takes a whistlestop tour of the globe via the greatest recent collection of colour plate travel and costume books
Designs by the daring Dino Martens come to auction in Italy
13 May 2024Two quite different pieces of glass designed by Dino Martens (1894-1970) led the April 23 sale at Aste di Antiquariato Boetto (25% buyer’s premium) in Genoa.
Louis Comfort Tiffany gossip is talk of the town as painting emerges in New York auction
13 May 2024An oil on canvas of a German scene was probably on display at Louis Comfort Tiffany's Long Island home, sold in the 1940s.
Chinese vase stands tall at Spanish auction
13 May 2024A classic of the large blue and white forms of Yuan dynasty porcelain comes to auction in Spain
Delve into the darker side of Old Master paintings at auction
13 May 2024Current collecting taste means that Old Master paintings exploring the darker side of the human character can often find more admirers than more typical subject matter of Georgian gentleman or European landscapes. Works of the grotesque are particularly popular.
Single-owner Nelson obsession
13 May 2024A collection of Nelson commemoratives amassed over 30 years includes pieces once owned by the man himself
Trio of Egyptian sandstone reliefs stand out in a London sale selection
13 May 2024A highlight of Apollo Art Auctions’ (20% buyer’s premium) April 27-28 sale was a trio of Egyptian sandstone reliefs from the Amarna period, the 17-year reign of the radical pharaoh Amenhotep IV known as Akhenaten.
Klimt as a cheaper buy
13 May 2024Like all artists born in the 19th century, Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) underwent a traditional academic training, studying at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule (now the University of Applied Arts, Vienna) from 1876-83.
Miniature books: Small is indeed beautiful
13 May 2024Small books have long been objects of wonder. The history of tiny type can be traced back to the smallest cuneiform clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia or the diminutive papyrus codices treasured by Christians in Roman Egypt.
Icon boosted by fantastic ornate frame
13 May 2024The sale at Hargesheimer (28% buyer’s premium) on April 18 included an outstanding Russian icon and oklad by Orest Kurlyukov.