Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Georgian portrait miniatures in our pick of five auction highlights
14 January 2022ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a pair of Georgian portrait miniatures that sold for more than 30-times their estimate.
Finding the right combination in Dorset
10 January 2022Brass and steel ‘combination’ or ‘puzzle’ boxes enjoyed a vogue in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Pick of the week: Berry map rarity takes pole position
10 January 2022Relatively few English mapmakers came to the fore in the 17th century at a time when Dutch cartographers were well ahead of the competition.
A rare silver souvenir of the 1684 frost fair
10 January 2022Eight frost fairs were held on the Thames between 1607-1814, taking advantage of the firm ice that formed on the river as it flowed slowly in the shallows near the old London Bridge.
A collection of Cotswolds school furniture is among five lots to watch
10 January 2022With estimates from £600-6000 here are five previews of upcoming items.
Telling the time in Newcastle and Edinburgh
10 January 2022The December 1-2 Country House & Fine Interiors sale at Anderson & Garland (22% buyer’s premium) in Newcastle included a late 17th century walnut longcase clock by local maker William Prevost.
Chinnery in China after fleeing Calcutta money woes
10 January 2022The sale at Thomas R Callan (20% buyer’s premium) in Ayr on December 3-4 included a sketchbook by George Chinnery (1774-1852) dated 1838.
Bottle buyer feeling blue but happy
10 January 2022In natural light this English ‘black glass’ onion form wine bottle appears distinctly blue.
Star Wars, Indian version
10 January 2022Among the unexpected performers at the Prop Store’s (25% buyer’s premium) entertainment memorabilia sale was a single-sheet Star Wars poster.
Studio ceramics show post-Driscoll sale positivity
10 January 2022The full fall-out from the record-breaking Dr John P Driscoll sale of British studio ceramics is yet to be understood.
Prehistoric art with curve appeal
10 January 2022‘Venus’ figurines from the Upper Paleolithic are recognised as some of the earliest works of prehistoric art.
Tribal clubs worth £40,000 amused teenagers as playthings
10 January 2022“The owner had no idea what they were or what they might be worth. Not a Scooby.”
George III carved mahogany tables in our pick of five auction highlights
07 January 2022ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a pair of George III carved mahogany tables that sold for more than three-times their estimate in the US.
EU closes its borders to ivory antiques
03 January 2022New European Commission laws will prevent the commercial export and import of most antiques containing elephant ivory to and from the EU.
McWhirter’s four-minute-mile stopwatch clocks up five figures at auction
03 January 2022On May 6, 1954 - the day British middle-distance athlete Roger Bannister (1929-2018) ran the first ever sub-four-minute mile - there were five official timekeepers plus a sixth watch manned by race commentator Norris McWhirter (1925-2004).
Irish ploughman notes picked up by collectors
03 January 2022On November 25 Dix Noonan Webb sold the first tranche of banknotes from the enormous collection of the late Gus Mac Amhlaigh of Dublin.
Knight and Bomberg as war artists
03 January 2022In 1946 the artist Laura Knight (1877-1970) was commissioned by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee to create a painting of the Nuremberg Trials.
Pick of the week: A round the world trip in the 1560s
03 January 2022Sixteenth-century globes rarely appear on the market. So, Jim Spencer, Hansons’ works on paper specialist, had been amazed to encounter one at a valuation day in Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.