Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Christie’s South Kensington – the final curtain call
24 July 2017With the disappearance of Christie’s South Kensington the London market is in a state of flux. ATG looks to the future and considers the opportunities for the firms that seek to take its place.
Stirrup cup shows horse sense
24 July 2017Despite their function, stirrup cups in the form of equine heads are a little harder to find than those of dogs and foxes.
Final Christie's South Kensington sale: going, going… and definitely gone
24 July 2017At just after 10am on July 19, William Porter – the first of four carefully chosen auctioneers – climbed the rostrum to a ripple of applause from an audience of two dozen staff and a dozen or so buyers. “Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Christie’s South Kensington and welcome to the Interiors sale.” Long pause. “For the last time,” he said. “Boo,” heckled a voice from the front.
Studio pottery from Porlock
24 July 2017The interest in studio pottery goes beyond the premier names in the field. Three pieces by Waistel Cooper (1921-2003), a Scot who worked first in Porlock in Somerset and later from the Barbican Pottery in Penzance, generated plenty of bidding at Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19% buyer’s premium) July 6 sale in Taunton.
Traditional concertinas are sound auction buys
24 July 2017Helped by a revival of interest in traditional music, the market for the best antique concertinas has accelerated in recent years. Prices for some models have trebled across the decade.
Phone bidders fuel cigarette box bidding
24 July 2017This shagreen, silver and enamel cigarette box and cover, made for Liberty and Co and attributed to Manx designer Archibald Knox (1854-1933), doubled its estimate to sell for £10,500 at Halls (20% buyer’s premium) in Shrewsbury on June 21.
Sweet dreams are made of these Rowntree's tins
24 July 2017Mitchells’ (20% buyer’s premium) Vintage and Antique Toy Sale on July 15 included a collection of 15 Rowntree’s sweet tins from the Edwardian era.
Rare Lowestoft porcelain objects highlight of Norfolk auction
22 July 2017A pair of white glazed figures of musicians made by the Lowestoft factory c.1770, sold for £4000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at the July 18 sale at Keys of Aylsham. The pair – perhaps the first to come onto the market for at least 30 years – provided the highlight of more than 100 lots of Lowestoft porcelain.
A monumental Lancastrian and Pearson in silver
22 July 2017Leading the sale of Arts & Crafts at the Woolley & Wallis June 21 sale was the monumental Pilkington’s Lancastrian vase shown above, standing some 48cm (19in) high.
WATCH: Christie’s South Kensington chairman Nic McElhatton makes emotional speech at saleroom’s final auction
19 July 2017The final auction at Christie’s South Kensington took place today with a 466-lot ‘Interiors’ sale rounding off the saleroom’s 42-year history. Before offering the final two lots of the sale, chairman of CSK Nic McElhatton made an emotional speech to bid farewell to one of London’s most popular auction venues.
Pick of the Week: A window into Zettler prices
17 July 2017The Zettler Glass Manufactory was founded in Munich in 1870 by Francis Xavier Zettler (1841-1916) and his father-in-law Joseph Gabriel Mayer (1808-83) – two men who combined a deep religious conviction with a love of medieval culture.
The many faces of Burmantofts
17 July 2017It was, said specialist Michael Jeffery, “one of, if not the finest, collections of Burmantofts put together by a private individual”.
Knoedler art fraudster Glafira Rosales ordered to pay $81m to victims
13 July 2017Glafira Rosales, the Long Island art dealer who in 2013 pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in the Knoedler art forgery case, has been ordered to pay $81m to victims of the fraud.
Antiques dealer accused of receiving and selling stolen items worth thousands of pounds
13 July 2017A dealer is on trial in Newport Crown Court charged with 11 counts of fraud and three of handling stolen goods.
Chiswick Auctions makes bold move to fill vacuum after closure of Christie's South Kensington
10 July 2017West London‘s Chiswick Auctions is to open a new showroom in South Kensington manned by at least eight former Christie’s staff.
Pick of the Week: Roar power fuels medieval record
10 July 2017A pair of lions from the funerary monument of Charles V of France was the toast of Christie’s Exceptional sale in London on July 6.
Reflections on the £390,000 ‘perfect storm’
10 July 2017A moment of good old-fashioned saleroom drama emerged at Christie’s antiquities sale on July 5 when an Etruscan bronze mirror, estimated at £10,000-15,000, sold at £390,000 (plus 25/20/12% buyer’s premium). The buyer was a European institution.
Pick of the Week: Riding the £23,000 Brompton omnibus
03 July 2017A highlight of Sworders’ Country House sale in Stansted Mountfitchet on June 27 was a rare tinplate London omnibus.
Focus on contemporary designers at auction
03 July 2017For previous generations of artist jewellers, from René Lalique to Andrew Grima, retail sales and private commissions were everything. Typically it was only much later in the collecting lifecycle, after a period of posthumous reassessment and rediscovery, that their work appeared at auction with any great regularity.
Agate’s growing appeal
03 July 2017Dendritic agate – a pale chalcedony with treelike inclusions caused by traces of iron or manganese – is a relatively lowly stone but was a favourite of Russian jewellers in particular. Carl Fabergé used it in many pieces in a country where it is considered a stone of longevity, good health and prosperity.