Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Colt Clavier to be dispersed in Canterbury
07 May 2018The Colt Clavier collection of historical keyboard instruments will be offered on June 7 in a sale held by Canterbury Auction Galleries in association with London specialist Piano Auctions.
Exceptional ways to travel in style
07 May 2018The travelling compendium reached its apogee in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. Two exceptional examples appeared on the market in quick succession in recent days.
The Kelmscott Chaucer: four years in the making
03 May 2018Kelmscott’s finest achievement is probably its edition of 'The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer'. It is described in Printing and the Mind of Man as “perfect… both in design and in the quality of the printing”.
Ashendene Press: the rarest copies
03 May 2018Limited to 111 copies (105 on paper and six on vellum), ‘The Ashendene Dante’ is the rarest of the three magnum opi of the English private press movement.
How the private press movement created a collecting niche
03 May 2018Night after night in the summer of 1916, the artist and bookbinder Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson (1840-1922) visited the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge under cover of darkness, each time laden down with a package wrapped in brown paper and string.
Sotheby's to 'vigorously defend' sale of famous Egyptian bronze in court case
01 May 2018Sotheby’s is involved in a court case surrounding the dating of a bronze sold at auction two years ago.
Pick of the Week: Talismanic shirts lead to saleroom good fortune
30 April 2018Two finely executed Indian talismanic shirts made multi-estimate sums at Roseberys in south London.
Powerful bidding for Islamic Week stars at auction
30 April 2018Multi-estimate sums proved the norm among the star lots during London’s Islamic Week auction series.
Sterling performance for ‘Dymock’ candlesticks at auction
30 April 2018Estimated at £10,000-15,000, a pair of James II silver candlesticks sold at £62,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at the Woolley & Wallis silver sale in Salisbury.
Dutch scholar awarded prestigious bookseller prize for work on woodcuts from incunabula in the Low Countries
27 April 2018The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has announced the winner of the 17th Breslauer Prize for Bibliography.
North Mymms contents sale tops £1.75m and posts best-ever sale for Sworders
23 April 2018The primary contents of North Mymms Park in Hertfordshire – including an important collection of European tapestries – provided Sworders with its best-ever sale last week.
Jewellery hammer highlights including Chaumet brooch in Shropshire
23 April 2018A selection of glittering items on offer in English auctions.
Appeal to trade after burglary of Chinese works of art taken from Bath museum
23 April 2018The Museum of East Asian Art was the victim of a daring raid by four masked men who stole rare artefacts from the Bath institution.
Kutchinsky colour shines through
23 April 2018Characterised by high-quality craftsmanship, a bold use of colour plus a love of whimsy, the menagerie of gem-set or enamel animal designs are particularly recognisable as signature Kutchinsky pieces.
Charles Voysey River Rug flows into auction
23 April 2018A hand-coloured design for Charles Voysey’s 'River Rug' surfaced at Lawrences of Crewkerne where it sold at £21,000 (plus premium).
Naming names, Scandinavian style
23 April 2018Unlike other European jewellers, where designers and makers were often shrouded in anonymity, the Georg Jensen Co promoted its craftspeople and encouraged them to become names in their own right.
Photogenic gems including Julia Margaret Cameron link
23 April 2018An old photo of a former owner and a memorial inscription will seldom add commercial value to a Victorian locket. However, the example by the Phillips Brothers of Cockspur Street offered by Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) in Oxford on March 21 carried the inscription 'Julia Hay Norman, Died 3rd October 1873'.
Pick of the Week: South Indian rarity spotted alongside Soloman stars
23 April 2018An 18in (45cm) figure of Shiva Vinadhara c.12th century – £220,000.
A taste of cool Britannia in NYC
23 April 2018“They were as bold, diverse, and brave as René Lalique and his peers had been in the 1900s, bucking convention and tradition to change the landscape of British jewellery.”
Sumptuous tapestries help country house auction to total a hefty £1.75m for Sworders
19 April 2018The primary contents of North Mymms Park in Hertfordshire – including a collection of European tapestries that have been at the property for over a century - have sold at auction for close to £2m.