Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
American ‘freed slave’ badge soars above estimate at Ohio auction
22 May 2024This humble but hugely powerful object is a Charleston free badge, an oval copper planchet worn by a freed African slave in South Carolina in the 1780s.
Roma Numismatics to close doors this week
20 May 2024London ancient coin dealers and auctioneers Roma Numismatics is to close.
Christie’s sales go ahead despite cyber attack
20 May 2024Auction house Christie’s went ahead with its sales last week as planned despite suffering a ‘technology security incident’ that brought down its website.
Italian artist's detailed view of London exhibition emerges in Rome auction
20 May 2024Although the image may be familiar from stereoscopic photographs and engravings of the period, this view of the 1862 'London International Exhibition of Industry and Art' is an oil and canvas by the Italian painter Federico Moja (1802-85).
French Revolutionary bonnet is among five lots to watch
20 May 2024With estimates from £400, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week
Flowers to soothe the pain of St Helena exile
20 May 2024This wreath of helichrysum (immortelle or everlasting) flowers was apparently sent to Napoleon on St Helena as a token of support from two of his sympathisers in London.
Laying down the laws for monks
20 May 2024Manuscript ‘sold in 1776’ at forerunner of Sotheby’s emerges in New York sale
London’s ‘curious gardens’ inspired German botanist
20 May 2024Published between 1750-73, Plantae selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortis curiosorum (‘A selection of plants from natural specimens nurtured in London’s curious gardens’) is considered the most important botanical work ever printed in Germany.
Seven up for complete set of famous Sowerby work
20 May 2024The Science, Medicine & Early Technology auction at Flints (25% buyer’s premium) in Thatcham, Berkshire on May 1 was led by a complete seven-volume set of The Mineral Conchology of Great Britain by James Sowerby (1757-1822).
Prince of Speed Georges Hamel designed nifty posters now sought after by collectors
20 May 2024Original printings of two of the most familiar automotive posters sold for £15,000 each at Lyon & Turnbull (26% buyer’s premium).
Damascened casket linked to Henry VIII’s metalworker comes to auction in Barcelona
14 May 2024Iron and gold inlayed casket depicting sieges of Boulogne sur Mer is attributed to court gunsmith and armourer Diego de Çaias.
Christie’s website down, victim of apparent cyberattack
14 May 2024Christie’s has been the victim of an apparent cyberattack that has brought down its website.
Wreath believed to have been sent to Napoleon on Saint Helena takes five-figure sum in Spanish auction
14 May 2024Bidders battled for a floral wreath sent by supporters of the exiled and imprisoned emperor.
Dining table and chairs given by Mouseman to his daughter
13 May 2024Elements of a collection of ‘Mouseman’ furniture made by Robert Thompson (1876-1955) for his daughter Elsie come for sale in Yorkshire.
The words of God with a silver lining: miniature silver psalter comes to London book fair
13 May 2024This miniature 17th century psalter in a contemporary pierced and engraved openwork silver binding is priced at £15,000 by Bernard Quaritch at Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair.
Pick of the week: Gillray in his own time and place
13 May 2024Remarkably, although a very successful and popular artist, no accounts of the work of the Georgian caricaturist James Gillray (1756-1815) were published in England during his lifetime.
A ‘dog kennel’ vesta case is among five lots to watch
13 May 2024With estimates from £300, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Auction previews: Eye-catching lots to look out for
13 May 2024A selection of stand-out lots coming up at a variety of auctions
Colour plate books: Around the world with Norman Bobins
13 May 2024ATG takes a whistlestop tour of the globe via the greatest recent collection of colour plate travel and costume books
Designs by the daring Dino Martens come to auction in Italy
13 May 2024Two quite different pieces of glass designed by Dino Martens (1894-1970) led the April 23 sale at Aste di Antiquariato Boetto (25% buyer’s premium) in Genoa.