Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Tumbler to be taken on the last campaigns
15 August 2022This glass tumbler, pictured below, engraved with a crowned 'N' over a band of diamond cutting, contained in a tooled leather cylindrical travelling case, is of a type that accompanied Napoleon on campaign.
In the emperor’s service
15 August 2022The French silver-gilt table knife and fork shown here, c.1810, is from a service made for Napoleon Bonaparte.
Trafalgar celebrated with a splash of vinegar
15 August 2022This example of the well-known Nelson memorial vinaigrette made by Matthew Linwood of Birmingham in 1805 sold for £2800 at Lawrences (25% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne.
Classical marble sculpture stars in our latest pick of five auction highlights
12 August 2022ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes an allegorical marble figure of Flora that tripled its estimate at Bonhams Skinner.
Pick of the week: Murder most foul but fascinating jug bid to 27-times estimate
08 August 2022The murder of William Weare in the Hertfordshire village of Radlett in 1823 has been called the first trial by newspaper.
Pilkingtons charger given as a wedding present is among five lots to watch this week
08 August 2022With estimates from £150-8000, here are five previews of items coming up at auction.
Previews: issue 2554
08 August 2022A selection of eight upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.
Silversmiths who left Britain in search of fortune
08 August 2022Sale tells a tale of the English and Scottish makers who headed out to India for work
Art Deco suite ‘went to sea’
08 August 2022According to family history, an Art Deco four-piece suite offered by Mander (20% buyer’s premium) in Sudbury on July 9 has an ocean-going history.
Panels impress in sideboard sale
08 August 2022As Sand, an Elizabethan house in east Devon which has been in the Huyshe family since 1560, is being sold for the first time in over 460 years, Chilcotts (21% buyer’s premium) dispersed much of the contents on July 16.
Paperweight adds polish to a collection
08 August 2022This unusual Grand Tour paperweight shown here is made from fragments of Roman mosaic, millefiori, spiral twist and reticelli glass.
Top selling mahogany dining table stars in our pick of six auction highlights
05 August 2022ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a George IV mahogany extending dining table with a label for Joseph Bexfield of Norwich that made six times estimate in Bath.
French musical box and a Harold Knight portrait are among five lots to watch
01 August 2022With estimates from £1000-35,000, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
La Thangue rediscovery bears fruit at auction
25 July 2022In a Ligurian Garden, a previously missing exhibition work by the British Impressionist Henry Herbert La Thangue (1859-1929), sold for £180,000 (plus buyer’s premium) in the British, European and Sporting Art Sale at Tennants in Leyburn.
Pick of the week: Romantic poet Byron remembered in the form of a mourning ring
25 July 2022He may have been considered ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’ but items connected to Lord Byron (1788-1824) make for very welcome auction consignments.
A Louis Vuitton trunk discovered in an attic is among five lots to watch
25 July 2022With estimates from £150-6000, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Rare 17th century miniature bottle emerges for sale at BBR Auctions
25 July 2022Among the very rarest bottles to appear for sale in recent months was a miniature shaft and globe in dark aqua glass, c.1650, sold in South Yorkshire.
Oxford sale shows demand for prized regional variations
25 July 2022Sealed wine bottles possess a powerful sense of time and place. For some collectors it is the regional connections that appeal most.
Stockbroker’s Beilby ready to share – at a price
25 July 2022For reasons of both supply and economics not every collector of English 18th century drinking glasses gets to own a piece from the great Beilby enamelling workshop that operated at Amen Corner in Newcastle in the 1760s-70s.
Not so romantic: sailor’s valentines as souvenirs
25 July 2022Sailor’s sweethearts or valentines were once thought to have been made by sailors as love tokens during their long trips away from home.