Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell

img_27-1.jpg

Sought-after signatures include Queen star and a Saudi king

22 July 2024

A landlord and tenancy agreement signed by Freddie Mercury in 1986 was among the highlights of the Autographs and Memorabilia at Chiswick Auctions (25/12% buyer’s premium).

img_20-3.jpg

Olympic Games posters that feature innovative design

22 July 2024

The 1968 Mexico Summer Olympics were the first Games to be staged in Latin America.

img_20-1.jpg

Posters created as political expression in Communist-run Poland

22 July 2024

Roman Cieślewicz (1930-96) and Jan Lenica (1928-2001) were both founders of the Polish School of Posters, the influential and creative artistic movement that sprang up under strict Soviet rule.

img_26-1.jpg

Key Mormon work was taken in the spirit intended

22 July 2024

First edition of key Mormon work lists Joseph Smith as ‘author and proprietor’ of text not ‘translator’

Chinese incense box

Tiny Chinese porcelain incense box sells at over 400 times estimate

19 July 2024

The latest biannual offering of Chinese, Japanese, and Indian works of art at Tremont Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) was dominated by the multi-estimate performance of a single lot.

Pilkington's Royal Lancastrian galleon tile

‘A lifelong labour of love’: Hensman tile collection sells at marathon sale in Stourbridge

17 July 2024

Most tile collectors tend to specialise in a particular area – a favourite factory, a period, a designer or a chosen subject matter. Roger Hensman was passionate about the subject in all its forms.

Antique brush washer

Chinese brush washer makes 200 times estimate in Norfolk

16 July 2024

A Chinese monochrome brush washer in one of the most prized glazes of the Song dynasty sold for an unexpected £120,000 at auction in Norfolk.

Phillip Segal toys

Hey Diddle Diddle – the toy bid over the moon

16 July 2024

The range of nursery rhyme and sporting figures made by Phillip Segal Toys are among the most desirable of all hollowcast lead ‘civilians’.

img_22-4.jpg

Georgian mahogany furniture features among four lots to watch this week

15 July 2024

With estimates from £5000, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week

img_1-1.jpg

Mineral water bottle pops up to break record

15 July 2024

A new record for any English bottle was set at specialist saleroom BBR Auctions in Elsecar, South Yorkshire.

img_27-1.jpg

Poetry work that awakened the genius of John Keats

15 July 2024

Only 29 books from the library of John Keats are recorded - among them a 1679 printing of the collected works of the Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser given to him by the artist Joseph Severn (1793-1879).

img_4-1.jpg

British silver pieces from renowned Texas collection on offer

15 July 2024

New Orleans dealership MS Rau has acquired 222 pieces of English silver from the collection of Texan businessman Billy Joe ‘Red’ McCombs (1927-2023).

img_5-2.jpg

Intriguing timeline of a rediscovered Tompion clock

15 July 2024

Bonhams’ Fine Clocks sale in London on July 3 included a table clock by Thomas Tompion (1639-1713) that came for sale via an unorthodox route.

img_26-1.jpg

Illustration done on a grand scale: fantastic fish watercolours from naturalist Sarah Bowdich Lee

15 July 2024

Naturalist produced a fish-focused work featuring nearly 3000 original watercolours across 50 copies

img_14-2.jpg

Spoon by the famous Haslewood silversmithing family comes to sale as a rare Norwich survivor

15 July 2024

A rare example of Norfolk Charles I silver – a seal-top spoon made by the patriarch of the famous Haslewood silversmithing dynasty – sold for £3600 at a recent sale of Silver and Objects of Vertu at Chiswick Auctions (26% buyer’s premium) in London.

img_30-1.jpg

Previews: issue 2652

15 July 2024

A selection of highlights from eight upcoming auctions.

img_36-2.jpg

The Japanese prints spoils of a seasoned bidder

15 July 2024

Collector never seemed to give up in a battle to win more magnificent ukiyo-e works

Beswick Belted Galloway

Cows can fly: Beswick lot bid to a bullish 30 times estimate in Glasgow

12 July 2024

Arthur Gredington, who was appointed chief modeller at the Beswick factory in 1939, found inspiration across the animal kingdom from cats and kittens to butterflies and leaping fish.

img_30-1.jpg

Prime-period Zsolnay shines in Munich auction

08 July 2024

Selection of items by the Hungarian family firm date from most in-demand era of production

img_13-3.jpg

Iznik at the double thanks to two private collections at Olympia Auctions

08 July 2024

The sale of Indian and Islamic art at Olympia Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in London on June 5 included two fine private collections of Iznik pottery.