Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Ravilious: the crowning glory
07 October 2024A rare colourway of the Ravilious for Wedgwood coronation mug took a bid of £13,500 at Gildings - a record price for Eric Ravilious ceramics.
Meccano robot plays its cards right
07 October 2024Its survival a mystery for years, a rare 1950s Meccano store display figure has surfaced in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
‘Wandering hour’ watch found a home in Australia
07 October 2024Any gold ‘wandering hour’ watch made prior to the introduction of the balance spring is a rarity.
Forsyth’s tribute to killed nurse Cavell in panel form
07 October 2024Gordon Mitchell Forsyth (1879-1952) is best known as a ceramicist - specifically for his work as art director at the Pilkington’s Lancastrian factory from 1903-14 and his subsequent teaching career as superintendent of art instruction in Stoke-on-Trent.
Moorcroft pottery collection provides focus on prime period works
07 October 2024Moorcroft pottery collection offered in Essex saleroom had a great focus on signed wares of the initial Macintyre era when the designer was at his prime
Mouseman: small character carvings prove to be a cut above
07 October 2024Small-scale Mouseman carvings were typically made in Kilburn for promotional purposes – attracting custom at the Yorkshire Show or similar trade events. Rarities continue to bring muscular sums in the salerooms.
Czech out industrial style with the H269
07 October 2024With its exaggerated, curved armrests, ample cushioning and cantilevered frame, the H269 bentwood chair is perhaps the best known of all Czech industrial furniture designs.
Pratchett’s first flight of Discworld fantasy
07 October 2024The inaugural sale at Rare Book Auctions (26.5% buyer’s premium) in Lichfield included this signed and inscribed first printing of Terry Pratchett’s 'The Colour of Magic'.
Martin face jug ‘we trust you will like’
07 October 2024Not only was this Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923) a stoneware ‘face’ jug deemed an excellent example of its type, but it was sold with a hand-written letter to David Oxen Esq, the original buyer of the jug in 1914.
Small thing, big satisfaction
07 October 2024The Scottish printer David Bryce (1845-1923) said that when he “descended to the miniature, mite and midget size” he had “many a scoff and jeer as to the absurdity of the production”.
Voysey rose to the occasion for textiles
07 October 2024In 1897 Charles Francis Annesley Voysey agreed a contract with Alexander Morton and Co to provide designs for a minimum of 10 textile designs each year for five years.
Art Nouveau & Art Deco previews including a Birmingham Guild brass panel
07 October 2024A selection of upcoming lots focusing on stand-out items from two key design movements
'Wavy edged' Chinese export silver bowl features among five lots to watch
07 October 2024With estimates from £350, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week
Tinworth? Doulton Lambeth? That rings a bell
07 October 2024Designed by George Tinworth, c.1885, this Doulton Lambeth spill vase commemorates the first transatlantic phone call between the UK and the US.
European avant garde design embraced by American silversmith
07 October 2024Relatively little is known about the German-born artist and designer Elsa Tennhardt (1899-1980).
Hawker aluminium furniture gives a lift to Bucks auction
07 October 2024A recent sale at Claydon Auctioneers (21.5% buyer’s premium) in Buckinghamshire included a suite of aluminium bedroom furniture by the HG Hawker Engineering Company.
Eduard Wiiralt etchings bring fervent bidding at US auction
04 October 2024Two of the most familiar works by Estonian graphic artist Eduard Wiiralt (1898-1954) came for sale at a recent sale at Revere Auctions in St Paul, Minnesota.
‘The largest selection of Fishley pottery to be included in a single auction’
03 October 2024An impressive array of North Devon pottery dating from the 18th to the 20th century comes for sale at Chilcotts in Honiton on October 12.
First known ‘romantic’ photograph of an interracial couple in the US comes to auction
03 October 2024On October 26, Freeman’s Hindman in Cincinnati will offer what is believed to be the first American photograph of a romantically posed interracial couple.