Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Headless Roman emperor given nod of approval
13 October 2025A recent sale at Harper Field (20% buyer’s premium) in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, included a weathered marble figure of a Roman emperor in armour.
Sèvres bottle coolers sell to French bidder at 20 times the top estimate
13 October 2025A pair of 7in (17cm) Sèvres porcelain bottle coolers (seau à bouteille) sold for £6000 as part of Tennants’ (24% buyer’s premium) recent Country House Sale.
Antiquarian jewels at Wartski fit for Halloween night
13 October 2025London jeweller Wartski has the perfect gift for Halloween: a late 17th century pendant fashioned from a lizard’s leg.
Tudor coin hoard discovered in garden during lockdown comes to auction
09 October 2025A Tudor hoard found by a Hampshire couple while gardening will be sold at auction in Switzerland next month.
Einstein’s violin takes £860,000 at auction
08 October 2025A violin used by Albert Einstein during his late teens and early adult life was hammered down at £860,000.
Cotswolds design museum launches fundraising appeal to buy Gordon Russell dish
08 October 2025The Gordon Russell Design Museum in Broadway, Worcestershire is fundraising ahead of an auction.
Gun owned by ‘Rifle Queen’ Annie Oakley all set to be targeted by collectors
06 October 2025A UK gun collector has consigned a target rife owned by legendary Victorian sharpshooter Annie Oakley to auction in East Sussex.
Henry Moore captures fellow sculptor in chalk form
06 October 2025Catherine Southon’s October 15 Fine Sale in Chislehurst includes this chalk caricature of the sculptor Cecil Gunthorp (1893-1983) done by one Henry Moore (1898-1986).
Not for tourists: Carved wooden stool was intended for Polynesian high society rather than the newcomers
06 October 2025So-called no’oanga stools from Rurutu Island, the northernmost island of the Austral archipelago in Polynesia, are distinct in their deep seats and solid curving legs terminating in button-like feet.
Crumbs… biscuit tin takes £5200
06 October 2025Among the most desirable of all novelty biscuit tins is the William Crawford & Sons sports coupe.
Huge amount of pre-sale interest prompts extra spear research
06 October 2025Like the no’oanga stool sold by Woolley & Wallis, the Polynesian ceremonial spears or staffs known as to’o also originate from the Austral Islands of Rurutu.
Dunhill brings flame and fortune
06 October 2025A specially commissioned Dunhill ‘aquarium’ table lighter marking the victory of an unfancied horse at Ascot sold for £12,500 at auction in Scarborough. It is thought to be the third-highest auction price for a Dunhill lighter of this type.
How Gillows gives stamp of authority to furniture
06 October 2025Gillows was one of the few English cabinetmaking firms to regularly mark its furniture. It is estimated that the Gillows Lancaster stamp appears on roughly a third of the pieces that left its workshops.
Gun owned by ‘rifle queen’ Annie Oakley set to be targeted by collectors
03 October 2025A UK gun collector has consigned a target rife owned by legendary Victorian sharpshooter Annie Oakley to auction in East Sussex.
Major Märklin rarity ignites bidding battle as c.1905 fire station makes €220,000
29 September 2025One of the great Märklin rarities came for sale at the latest auction at antique toy specialist Lankes Auktionshaus in Krefeld in western Germany.
Moving and macabre mementoes that mattered for Jacobites
29 September 2025A rare snuff box commemorating the escape of Charles II from Parliamentary forces after the Battle of Worcester was the highlight of Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood’s (26% buyer’s premium) silver and jewellery sale in Exeter.
Ticket for George III's coronation brings demand in Shropshire sale
29 September 2025This official ticket allowed admission to Westminster Abbey for the coronation of George III on September 22, 1761.