Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Debut three-day sale graced by an aristocratic selection
21 December 2020In playing condition but with enough problems to be catalogued as ‘sold as seen’, a Nicole Frères brass inlaid music box was one of the unexpected stars of the first three-day sale to be held at Ripon auction house Elstob & Elstob (22% buyer’s premium).
Top-selling Staffordshire figure group stars in our weekly pick of five auction highlights
18 December 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes one of the most ambitious and desirable early 19th century Staffordshire figure groups that made over 30-times estimate in Edinburgh.
Pick of the week: Jumbo price from Rothberger collection
14 December 2020The Anschluss of 1938 between Nazi Germany and Austria had a devastating effect on Vienna’s Jewish population.
Busts of tragic Roman duo take £106,000
14 December 2020This pair of life-size bronze busts depict the tragic young figures Publius Septimus Geta, son of emperor Septimus Severus, and his sister-in-law Plautilla.
A Bizarre discovery for Clarice Cliff historians
14 December 2020The latest Specialist Collectors’ Sale at Cuttlestones in Wolverhampton included a little bit of 20th century ceramics history.
Cotswold School brass fire dogs and an 1880s safety bicycle are among the six lots to watch at auction
14 December 2020With estimates from £100-9000 here are six previews of upcoming items this week.
Auction previews: issue 2472
14 December 2020A selection of nine upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland.
A glued together Chinese vase taking a six figure-sum at auction is among our pick of five auction highlights sold this week
11 December 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a heavily repaired Qianlong vase.
Seeing ‘double dragon’ as celadon vase brings €1.2m in Durrow
07 December 2020A celadon vase to a celebrated ‘double-dragon’ form has sold for €1.2m (£1.1m) – a record for Chinese art in Ireland. The 20½in (52cm) vase with a Yongzheng (1722-35) six-character mark was estimated at just €800-1200 at Sheppard’s in Durrow, Co Laois.
Pick of the week: De Morgan’s Frightened Bird flaps to £27,000
07 December 2020This 14in (36cm) diameter ‘double lustre’ shallow dish or charger by William De Morgan (1839-1917) is decorated in the so-called ‘Frightened Bird’ pattern.
Unesco ad campaign on looted art has ‘intention to mislead’
07 December 2020A Unesco campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of looted art is threatening to backfire after it emerged the ‘stories’ told in its adverts were fabricated.
A Louis Wain cat mug, a Giuliano pendant and a Charles Dickens' cheque are among the six lots to watch at auction
07 December 2020With estimates from £80-8000 here are six previews of upcoming items this week.
Christie’s moves Asia to Paris
07 December 2020Christie’s is moving its Asian art sales from London to Paris and Hong Kong from next year.
Owner history of recusant chalice
07 December 2020With the defeat of Catholic attempts against the Protestant monarchy in the 17th and 18th centuries, penal laws were imposed in Ireland.
Stitches in time for the Restoration
07 December 2020A rare Charles II commemorative silver thimble sold for £980 at Bleasdales (20% buyer’s premium).
Lloyd bowl and Beddall service
07 December 2020Small Britannia standard silver bowls are the signature pieces the Scottish silversmith Michael Lloyd (c.1950).
Hawking a silver vervel at £18,500
07 December 2020This early 17th century silver vervel or hawking ring includes in italic script Kyng James and the quartered arms of the Stuart kings.
Spoons – the great English survivors
07 December 2020As hugely personal items and of relatively small melt value, spoons represent the great majority of English domestic silver items surviving from the pre-civil war period.
Previews
07 December 2020A special focus on stand-out lots in decorative art & design auctions coming up this month.