Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Politician proves influential in the antiques world
24 August 2020Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond (1944-2014) – the founder of the Norbrook pharmaceutical group in Northern Ireland – proved just as influential in the world of politics as he was in business.
Sphinx flies in black glass
24 August 2020The best-known press-moulded models made by John Derbyshire at the Regent Road Flint Glassworks in Salford are the series of animal and figural paperweights made in frosted, flint and coloured glass.
Bronze deity makes a jumbo price
24 August 2020In Tibetan Buddhism the elephant-headed deity Vignataka is treated with considerable ambivalence.
Politicians on the saleroom menu
24 August 2020Estimated at £100-200 but sold for £2800 at Thomas Watson (25% buyer’s premium) in Darlington on August was a set of four Worcester parian menu holders.
Minton majolica bear that once appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow stars in our pick of five auction highlights sold this week
21 August 2020ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a Minton majolica dancing bear that sold for four-times estimate in Surrey.
Rothschild taste adds to record Salisbury total
17 August 2020A group of works of art from a country home once owned by members of the Rothschild family boosted the latest Woolley & Wallis auction.
Pick of the week: Tiny box with calligraphy from the ‘Little man of Nuremberg’ who excelled at micro masterpieces
17 August 2020Matthias Buchinger (1674-1740), the so-called ‘Little Man of Nuremberg’, was just 2ft 5in (74cm) tall. Born in Ansbach without legs and having truncated arms without fingers, he nonetheless excelled at many occupations associated with physical dexterity.
18th century French gift box and Edward the Confessor silver penny are among the five lots to watch at auction this week
17 August 2020With estimates from £180-9000 here are five previews of upcoming items this week.
Drinking vessels bring cheering prices
17 August 2020Two traditional drinking vessels brought surprising toasts to European craftsmen at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (23% buyer’s premium) in Exeter.
Antique pieces dominate at Woolley & Wallis even as bidders move online
17 August 2020Circumstances are quickly changing the way items are bought and sold at auction – but the first principles of quality, keen pricing and provenance still apply.
Wièse’s Renaissance revival brooch sells at Elmwood’s
17 August 2020This brooch – an agate cameo in a diamond and enamel surround – has French assay marks for the Berlin-born, Paris-based historicist jeweller Jules Wièse (1818-90).
What to wear at Fellows
17 August 2020Alongside an extensive range of more conventional auction catalogue shots, Fellows has (since July 2019) been picturing every one of its fine jewellery lots being worn.
Brisbane priest's intaglio seal proves a cut above the rest at Bonhams
17 August 2020The highlight of Bonhams Australia’s (27.5/25% buyer’s premium) latest Jewels sale was this agate intaglio seal from the collection of Brisbane Catholic priest Father Peter Grice (1943-2019).
Erskine Childers’ sword sells in Irish auction
17 August 2020This Royal Navy Reserve officer’s sword owned by Robert Erskine Childers was estimated at €3000-5000 in a recent auction by Mullen’s (20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in Bray, Co Dublin. The scabbard throat of the Victorian 1827-pattern sword is engraved 'RE Childers'.
Locket from the Pocket Venus makes £2800 in Colchester
17 August 2020This 19th century gold diamond, pearl and blue enamel locket and necklace, sold by Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) in Colchester on August 11 for £2800, came with a little Hollywood stardust.
Pendant with hallmarks of Andrew Grima shines in Edinburgh sale
17 August 2020Many jewels by Anglo-Italian designer Andrew Grima carry the mark HJCo for the Haller Jewellery Company, the workshop of Grima’s father-in-law where he first found work in the accounts department in 1946. It was not until two years later that (untrained) he moved into design.
Julia Margaret Cameron quartet was once part of a photograph album
17 August 2020Pictured here are two of four photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79) sold via thesaleroom.com for £8000 by Duke’s (22% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester.
Craftsman who fought ‘tyranny of the machine’
17 August 2020Sworders’ September 8 sale of Arts & Crafts & Art Deco includes an unprecedented number of pieces by Stanley Webb Davies (1894-1978).
Once bitten: snake necklace brings demand at Chiswick Auctions
17 August 2020Far more fluent in the language of jewellery and stones, the Georgians and the Victorians would immediately have made the link between snakes and eternal love.
Sapphire brooch brings phone bids aplenty at Lawrences
17 August 2020Sapphires come in a range of hues from colourless to blue. The ‘fancy’ canary yellow stones, caused by trace amounts of iron, are particularly desirable - the best found in Sri Lanka.