Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
On island time – the Archibald Knox story
14 April 2025Archibald Knox (1864-1933) is known today as the genius behind the Cymric and Tudric ranges sold by Liberty & Co in the early 20th century.
Sienese art celebrated in Christie’s selling show
14 April 2025Christie’s private sales department is holding a selling exhibition titled Siena and the Renaissance.
It was ‘art first, objects second’ for Knox at home
14 April 2025If Knox is best known today for his work with Liberty & Co, in his own time on the Isle of Man he was better recognised as an art teacher and for his study of the local Celtic crosses and standing stones.
Mr Carter’s tavern mug is no small beer at £3400
14 April 2025Estimated at £500-800, this large Vauxhall salt-glazed stoneware tavern mug sold for £3400 at Moore Allen & Innocent (21% buyer’s premium) in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
My word, what a Louis Vuitton trunk...
14 April 2025Trunks for books which could be placed on a table, showcasing the volumes inside, are among Louis Vuitton’s most popular and collectable early models.
The Sunnyside furniture project
14 April 2025The few surviving pieces of furniture designed by Archibald Knox were mainly produced at the Sunnyside Workshops in Douglas, founded by Knox with his friend and patron Wilson James Ashburner in 1899.
The Olympia exhibition that led to a dealing career
14 April 2025When Anthony Bernbaum curated the exhibition Archibald Knox, Beauty and Modernity, a Designer Ahead of his Time at the Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair in 2014, he was working in investment banking.
Archibald Knox, a collecting history
14 April 2025A closer look at the post-war appreciation of the great designer including exhibitions and auction landmarks
Whitefriars Banjo vase plucks a top price
14 April 2025One of perhaps only two known ruby red versions of the Whitefriars Banjo vase sold for £17,200 in Devon on April 9.
Kongo nail figure hammered down at four times estimate
14 April 2025A tribal art sale held by Lempertz (26/20% buyer’s premium) in Brussels earlier this year was led by an exceptional nkisi nkondi figure. Guided at €70,000-80,000, it hammered at €320,000 (£264,500).
An island trail in Archibald Knox’s footsteps
14 April 2025Local tourist bodies believe that Knox can do for the Isle of Man what Mackintosh has done for Glasgow.
Ottoman inkwell attracts 37 bids at online auction
14 April 2025A fine example of early 18th century Ottoman metalwork sold for many times its estimate at Stockholms Auktionsverk (20% buyer’s premium) on February 20.
Reformer and religious author later burnt at the stake
14 April 2025Book was published by champion of Swiss Calvinism four years before he became a Protestant martyr
Finding Knox ‘was like falling in love’
14 April 2025Dr Stephen Martin first encountered Archibald Knox in a New York bookstore in 1990.
Sèvres plate puts on a display of French chivalry
14 April 2025Created shortly after the 1830 Revolution, when Louis Philippe ruled as ‘king of the French’, the ‘Service de la Chevalerie’ was a great example of romantic historicism.
Print purchaser was active in ‘Golden Age’ of collecting
14 April 2025Swedish civil engineer and army officer with great understanding bought the best impressions available
Cotswolds School lessons in style
12 April 2025The Art Deco design movement found a unique expression in Cotswolds School furniture - one that sought to blend clean lines with traditional English materials and craftsmanship.
Sienese gold ground paintings spotlighted in Christie’s private sales exhibition
11 April 2025Christie’s private sales department is holding a selling exhibition titled Siena and the Renaissance.
