Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Surprise: gold, jewelled and enamelled ring reveals hidden detail
18 August 2025The latest Collector’s Cabinet auction at Freeman’s Hindman in Chicago included this remarkable gold, jewelled and enamelled ‘surprise’ ring.
Intense Bloomsbury relationship – but a serene still-life
18 August 2025East Sussex saleroom Gorringe’s is selling a significant Bloomsbury Group painting as part of its inaugural Art & Design Post 1880 auction taking place on September 16.
Scarce Wemyss bulldog surfaces in the Cotswolds
18 August 2025Wemyss Ware bulldogs decorated with cabbage roses were first made by Robert Heron’s Kirkcaldy factory in the early years of the 20th century.
Metal detectorist's find tells the story of Sihtric I
18 August 2025A previously unknown Anglo-Saxon era silver penny, recently found by a metal detectorist in Lincolnshire, is expected to sell for £20,000-30,000 at auction.
Saltglaze stoneware extravaganza in a South Yorkshire sale
18 August 2025Collection formed by South African surgeon who worked in London supplies exceptional examples
Furniture to the taste of 18th century aristocrats
18 August 2025A George III bonheur du jour offered for sale at Roseberys (26/25/20% buyer’s premium) in south London provided a fascinating window onto the collecting tastes of the British aristocracy in the 18th century.
A later, 1930s, Polar Medal, for a relief ship... but still a £4600 hammer price
18 August 2025Estimated at £800-1200, a British Antarctic Polar expedition bronze medal and miniature took £4600 at Bentley’s (20% buyer’s premium) in Cranbrook, Kent.
Rare corkscrew excites the helixophiles
18 August 2025A recent sale held by arms and armour specialist Antony Cribb (25% buyer’s premium) in Compton, Berkshire, included one of the rarest of British patent corkscrews.
Sussex saleroom to offer rare collaborative Bloomsbury Group artwork
12 August 2025Gorringe’s is selling a significant Bloomsbury Group painting in September.
Faithful servant of Dr Livingstone in focus at Essex auction
11 August 2025A rare photograph from the funeral of Victorian explorer Dr David Livingstone (1813-73) comes to auction in Essex this summer.
Pick of the week: Murrine glass became fusion of old and new
11 August 2025The lost art of murrine - the creation of complex patterns by fusing together slices of coloured glass cane - was rediscovered by glass blowers in the Venetian lagoon in the late 19th century.
Expert’s mine of information on the evolution of the English language
11 August 2025Etymologist buys a glossary which provides a rich seam when it comes to English language changes
Arts and craftsmen: clock inventor and ship’s figurehead carver caught on canvas
11 August 2025The only known portrait of the inventor Reverend Edward Barlow (1639-1719) was sold by Bath horology specialist Gardiner Houlgate (20% buyer’s premium) earlier this summer.
Buttons were a bright idea to find the lost Franklin Expedition crews in the Arctic
11 August 2025During Edward Belcher’s fruitless two-year search for the lost Franklin expedition from 1852-54, many attempts were made to communicate with Inuit hunters in the hope they would have news of Franklin’s men.
Metal detectorist’s 10th century silver penny proves to be a market first
06 August 2025A previously unknown Anglo-Saxon era silver penny, recently found by a metal detectorist in Lincolnshire, is expected to sell for between £20,000-30,000 at auction in the autumn.
De Morgan doubles up with charger and designs
04 August 2025Two contrasting works by William De Morgan (1839-1917) - a sketchbook and a triple-lustre charger - were offered by Dominic Winter in consecutive auctions.
Libertas medal gets away at £63,000 hammer
04 August 2025A fine example of the Libertas Americana silver medal sold for £63,000 at Anderson & Garland in Newcastle. The medal offered on July 22 came to light during a valuation event in nearby Tynemouth and was subsequently sent for professional grading by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).