Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
An enigmatic £200,000 Chinese sleeper unmasked
23 March 2015Drama came at a recent sale at Taylor’s Auction Rooms in Montrose when a lot of two pieces of Chinese blue and white porcelain sold for £200,000.
Ruskin’s photo archive returns – in better focus
19 March 2015One of the most spectacular regional auction finds of the past decade returns to the limelight this week with the publication of a book documenting the history of a cache of early topographical photographs belonging to the Victorian critic, artist and social reformer John Ruskin (1819-1900).
Philadelphia flagship show shelved
18 March 2015The April staging of the ‘Philadelphia Antiques Show’, one of America’s premier antiques events, has been cancelled. The fair, faced with falling dealer and visitor numbers in recent years, hopes to return in 2016 at a new venue with a broader exhibitor base.
Sweet music makes £120,000
17 March 2015Bath auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate (20% buyer’s premium) set a new house record on March 12 with the sale of a guitar by the celebrated French luthier Jean-Baptiste Voboam (1658-after 1731) for £120,000.
£37,000 clue to another side of Chelsea
10 March 2015A Chelsea porcelain beaker with blue and white botanical decoration caused a sensation at Peter Wilson latest sale in Nantwich. Estimated at £100-200, it sold at £37,000.
Wolsey Angels – my ‘ones that got away’, says dealer
05 March 2015More information has emerged about the colourful recent history of the £5m Wolsey Angels.
Syndicate deal frees Wolsey Angels for sale
18 February 2015The parties caught in a conundrum over proper title to two of the recently rediscovered Wolsey Angels have formed an extraordinary syndicate to resolve the issue.
A £15,000 disturbance in the market force
13 February 2015Nostalgia is an important part of toy collecting, one that encourages otherwise fiscally astute middle-aged men to part with large sums of money for unblemished versions of the toys they had – or wished they had – as children.
Mahogany holds steady as oak declines
04 February 2015The Antique Collectors’ Club’s Annual Furniture Index (AFI) registered its seventh successive fall in 2014. However, only two categories depreciated substantially.
Commodes take £110,000 in Gloucestershire
04 February 2015Exceptional pieces of antique furniture play by quite different rules to the more standard items when it comes to price performance.
Art insurers cover auctions blighted by technical failure
02 February 2015Specialist fine art insurance brokers Anthony Wakefield & Co. are to offer cover for auctions cancelled or abandoned due to technical failure.
Florida auctioneer faces $1.5m and jail over illegal rhino horn
02 February 2015The owner of leading south Florida auction house Elite Decorative Arts has pleaded guilty to wildlife trafficking and agreed to a fine of $1.5m.
Mahogany commode with more than a hint of Chippendale
26 January 2015A fine quality mahogany commode with a blue-chip provenance proved the star lot at Lawrences’ latest furniture auction in Crewkerne.
Global sales at Spink hit £29m in strong coins and stamps market
19 January 2015Philatelic and numismatic specialists Spink have posted annual sales figures of just under £29m.
More Dambusters relics on offer in Dorset
16 January 2015Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse have been instructed to sell the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) pair awarded to a member of 617 Squadron, more commonly known as The Dambusters.
Asian art and jewellery drive regional sales in 2014
16 January 2015Annual auction totals hold steady across provincial salerooms.
Huge interest expected for Dambuster pieces
14 January 2015Five truly remarkable items of British wartime history are being offered for sale at J.P. Humbert Auctioneers of Towcester.
Record-breakers of the Tudor realm
13 January 2015A recent sale in London saw the auction records for Tudor coins rewritten by two choice examples of a golden denomination.
Safra’s Canaletto heads to Sotheby’s
06 January 2015As part of Old Master Week in New York, Sotheby’s will sell paintings assembled by J.E. Safra on January 29.
Chinese Republic panels bring £140,000 in Sherborne
24 December 2014Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse are on a roll with Republican period (1911-49) porcelain.