Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Collector of Naga objects never went to meet the Nagas
31 March 2025Before independence in 1947, the Naga hill tribes of north-east India were considered an exotic society, radically different in culture and beliefs from the better-known Hindu peoples of the plains and renowned for their fierce resistance to British rule.
'Hidden in a skirt' to escape the Nazis, now sold at auction
31 March 2025Carl (1883-1946) and Rosa Askonas (1891-1980), were the toast of 1920s Austrian society.
Not in tip-top condition but cream jug belonged to Tipping
31 March 2025The sale at Bellmans (25% buyer’s premium) in Billingshurst, West Sussex on February 17 included a small silver gilt rococo-style cream jug of a type that remains something of an enigma.
Pocket watch praised as ‘most complete and original example on the market for decades’
31 March 2025The Fine Jewellery & Watches sale at Wilson55 in Nantwich on March 20 included a rare pocket watch from the 1580s.
Mouseman works going, going, gong in Yorkshire
31 March 2025The craftsman-made Yorkshire oak furniture of Robert Thompson continues to be in high demand at auction.
Different jewels but both from the subcontinent
31 March 2025The Fine Jewellery sale at Dreweatts (26% buyer’s premium) in Newbury on March 19 included two quite different lots from the subcontinent - and both were well received.
Royal Doulton dunce achieves top-class result
31 March 2025Noke’s portrait of a humiliated child was one of the very first models from the Royal Doulton HN series
Napoleon’s own Civil Code copy sells in Paris
31 March 2025Before his death on St Helena, Napoleon Bonaparte said: “What nothing will erase, what will live forever, is my Civil Code.”
Writing chairs sat unnoticed until a deluge of enquiries poured in
31 March 2025Chinese chairs smaller and less formal than the ‘yoke-back’ or ‘horseshoe-back’ armchairs are referred to as rose chairs (meiguiyi) or writing chairs (wenyi).
Pick of the Week: Urns made in Glasgow sold in Glasgow
31 March 2025Among the most desirable of all Scottish garden ornaments are the Garnkirk urns, a pair of neoclassical vases first made for the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Spoilum alerts for two portraits
31 March 2025A work catalogued as “an 18th-century French School portrait of a gentleman” went for Can$32,000 (£17,180) at a Montreal sale, well above its broad guide of Can$1000-2000.
The language of love and loss
31 March 2025Far more fluent than us in the language of jewellery and stones, Georgians and the Victorians would immediately have made the link between snakes and eternal love.
Fabergé collection snapped up via private sale in eleventh-hour deal
31 March 2025An en bloc private sale has been arranged for a group of Fabergé object d’art formerly in the Wernher collection at Luton Hoo.
Discoveries unearthed by metal detectorists then treasured by bidders
31 March 2025Metal-detecting finds, properly reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme and since disclaimed as Treasure, are increasing significantly the supply of pre-Georgian jewels. Some fine examples have appeared at auction of late.
Cartier featured in The Illustrated London News advert hits the headlines
31 March 2025A Cartier Egyptian revival jewel, previously known only from an advert that appeared in The Illustrated London News in the 1920s, sold for £55,000 at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium).
The minute chance of mining a pink diamond
31 March 2025A Cartier necklace with a rare pink diamond was offered by Tennants (22% buyer’s premium) of North Yorkshire on March 15. It sold towards top hopes at £190,000.
‘Complete and original’: 16th century pocket watch makes 14 times estimate in Cheshire
26 March 2025The latest jewellery and watches sale at Wilson55 in Nantwich included a rare pocket watch from the 1580s.
Auction house Gorringe’s back under family control
24 March 2025Sussex and Kent auction house Gorringe’s begins a fresh chapter next month under full family ownership and new management.
Coffee pot plundered from burning White House makes five times estimate in Tetbury
24 March 2025A Georgian silver coffee pot that once formed part of the silver at the White House has emerged for sale in Gloucestershire.