Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Dish collected by porcelain obsessive Augustus the Strong brings bidding at Lyon & Turnbull
17 January 2022The scene on this 19in (43cm) Yongzheng famille rose dish depicts the Daoist immortal Magu on her way to celebrate the famous peach banquet of the Queen Mother of the West, Xi Wang Mu, who rules over the garden of the peaches of longevity.
Poignant piece of palace art
17 January 2022This Qing bronze fragment measuring a substantial 19in (47cm) across was once part of a magnificent sculpture of a crane that adorned an imperial palace.
Alfred Cohen’s Commedia view attracts interest against a lowly pitch
17 January 2022American artist Alfred Cohen (1920-2001) was inspired by the colour and handling of the Post-Impressionists and the imagery of the Commedia dell’arte.
Chinese work with European inspiration attracts interest in Somerset
17 January 2022Many Chinese export porcelain forms were inspired by European silver or ceramic forms.
Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze tops seasonal Asian art sales in UK regions
17 January 2022The highest single price posted in the regions during the autumn series of Asian art sales was the £380,000 bid at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dorchester for a monumental Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze devotional figure of Tara broadly dated to the Qing period.
Exceptional examples of Victorian metalwork come to the fore at David Lay
17 January 2022Christopher Dresser created a number of daring geometric designs for silver and silver-plated toast racks in the late 1870s and early 1880s, both for Hukin & Heath and for James Dixon & Son.
Mary Queen of Scots link to bed curtain fragment
17 January 2022Still a figure of glamour 450 years after her execution, Mary Queen of Scots was reputed to have embroidered the c.16th century fragment of bed curtain sold at Hansons (25% buyer’s premium) at Etwall on December 7.
David Hockney’s reality check as unrecorded copy of etching emerges at Bonhams
17 January 2022There are only three other known examples of this early David Hockney (b.1937) etching titled 'Self-Portrait (not in S.A.C. or Tokyo)'.
Tagore shows artistic skills
17 January 2022Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the Nobel prize-winning poet, writer, composer, philosopher and social reformer, began to practise as an artist aged 60.
Chinese porcelain in demand as medallion bowls bid to 260-times estimate in Glasgow
17 January 2022Perhaps the most identifiable production of the Daoguang period (1820-50) of the Qing empire is the medallion bowl.
Inuit amulet is the popular pup choice
17 January 2022A 19th century sea otter amulet in walrus ivory and baleen fashioned as a mother and her pup sold for £24,000 at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium).
Previews: issue 2526
17 January 2022A selection of 12 upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK.
Soldier's scroll paintings turn out to be lucrative birthday presents
17 January 2022Leading a recent Woolley & Wallis' (25/12% buyer’s premium) sale in Salisbury were two scroll paintings by well-known 20th century Chinese artists that came by descent from Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (1883-1950).
Moon flask slips away just below estimate
17 January 2022Qianlong moon flasks of this type are based on Ming dynasty prototypes that in turn were inspired by early Persian drinking vessels traded along the Silk Road.
Michael Collins’ gift for barman who kept his cool
17 January 2022This late 19th century walking cane with sturdy ebonised shaft and silver-plated handle comes with a letter of provenance stating that it had been a gift from Irish revolutionary soldier and politician Michael Collins (1890-1922) to Patrick Baker, head barman at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin.
Pin cushions with animal attractions tempt buyers
17 January 2022Appealing to a range of different types of collectors, Victorian and Edwardian animals pin cushions have their own niche in the novelty silver field.
Asian art: A new frontier as Vietnamese market opens up
17 January 2022Multi-estimate bidding is no longer just the preserve of Chinese works of art. During the recent Asian art sales, Vietnamese market objects excelled.
Eastern furniture proves no sleepy market as huanghuali bed makes £140,000
17 January 2022The market for Chinese furniture has come on leaps and bounds in 20 years.
How the Manchu dynasty tried to brush over Ming history
17 January 2022This Kangxi (1662-1722) period blue and white brush pot was offered at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium) in Stansted Mountfitchet.
The Givenchy ballgown that Hepburn dazzled in
15 January 2022Audrey Hepburn’s Givenchy ballgown as worn in the 1957 film 'Love In The Afternoon' was the star of the December 7 sale at London fashion specialist Kerry Taylor (25% buyer’s premium).