Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
European modernist rug owned by music executive Stein sells in New York auction
30 October 2023An Ivan Da Silva Bruhns rug from the estate of Sire Records founder and art collector Seymour Stein outperformed expectations at Capsule Auctions’ (25% buyer’s premium) Art & Design sale in New York on September 27.
Small toenail from a colossal statue comes to New England auction
30 October 2023This ancient Egyptian sculptural fragment, part of the Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ Autumn Majestic Sale in Maine on November 10-12, comes in a silver mount inscribed 'Small toenail from colossal Statue of Ramses II. Temple of Luxor, Feb. 13th, 1899'.
Simeon Solomon drawing depicts his historical heroes
30 October 2023This drawing by Victorian artist Simeon Solomon (1840-1905) is titled 'Simeon Solomon’s and Henry Holiday’s Artistic Heroes'.
‘Votive’ Egyptian sculptor’s tools with provenance to two American museums
30 October 2023Artemis Gallery’s (21.5% buyer’s premium) September 22 sale in Louisville, Colorado, included a set of finely preserved ancient Egyptian sculptor’s tools.
More art for the literati from Marsh
23 October 2023This 18in (45cm) high Chongzhen (1627-44) blue and white sleeve vase dated to the Wuyin year corresponding to 1638 is decorated with a scene from a popular 17th century drama based on a Tang poem.
Seized jade now for sale
23 October 2023Bonhams’ Fine Chinese Art sale on November 2 includes this Qing jade carving of a mythical beast that formed part of the seminal Chinesische Kunst exhibition of 1929 in Berlin.
The Edo pecking order
23 October 2023The Woolley & Wallis Japanese sale includes some good examples of the Edo period porcelains that wowed the European courts of the 17th and early 18th centuries.
Giovanni Battista Cali panel hammered down at auction
23 October 2023This Italian polychrome lava stone and pietra dure panel is probably by the Sicilian mosaicist Giovanni Battista Cali.
Take a kesi seat cover or two
23 October 2023This pair of kesi chair covers woven with front-facing dragons against an apricot ground, date from the late Ming or early Qing dynasty period.
Peter Orr silver trophy races away to 10 times low estimate
23 October 2023This colonial-era Indian silver horse racing trophy is marked for Peter Orr and Sons of Madras.
Dennison’s love of the Samurai
23 October 2023The art of the Samurai comes to Essex firm Sworders on November 2.
Korean banquet fills up eight panels
23 October 2023This 18th century Korean eight-panel screen depicts a subject borrowed from Ming prototypes: a banquet honouring the famed Tang dynasty general Guo Ziyi.
Silver makes Kinghams auction debut
23 October 2023Kinghams (25% buyer’s premium) had held its inaugural Silver & Objects of Vertu sale on September 8.
Kenneth Lawley collection on offer at Sotheby’s
23 October 2023Sotheby’s Important Chinese Art sale on November 1 includes the collection of Dr Kenneth Lawley (1937-2023), a longtime member of the Oriental Ceramic Society.
Walden’s prancing horse
23 October 2023Duke’s Asian Art sale in Dorchester on November 29 features works from the family of the late John Walden, an active member of the Oriental Ceramic Society from the 1950s.
Chinese and Japanese art makes Olympia sale debut
23 October 2023The first stand-alone Chinese and Japanese Works of Art sale at Olympia Auctions in London on November 8 includes this pair of Yongzheng period famille-rose fishbowls on European giltwood stands estimated at £40,000-60,000.
All you need is light: a Beatles table lamp
23 October 2023This kitschy Beatles table lamp discovered in a house clearance sold for an impressive £950 (estimate £100-150) on September 14.
The beast of the Tang
23 October 2023Despite the proliferation of pottery horse sculptures from the Tang period, they were (by imperial edict) reserved for the aristocratic class.
Elephants at the Qing court
23 October 2023Bonhams’ general Asian art sale in Knightsbridge on October 30 includes this late 18th century hardstone, mother-of-pearl and lacquer table screen.
‘Dragon’ bowls from the China trade
23 October 2023This pair of yellow ground and green enamelled ‘dragon’ bowls have Qianlong six-character marks and are of the period.