Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Pick of the Week: A case for the best of the Golden Age
11 June 2018By 1677, the great English clockmaker Thomas Tompion (1639-1713) was subletting part of his famous London premises – The Dial and Three Crowns at Water Lane – to one Jasper Braem or Bream (fl.1677-96).
Collection of Australian clockmaker expert Ken Hose offered at Leonard Joel auction
11 June 2018Ken Hose, who has published three books on Australian clockmakers, has been fascinated by clocks and their mechanics since he was a teenager.
Three hour ivory bill debate brings cross-party support in parliament
05 June 2018The bill that will mean a near total ban on the sale of ivory passed its second reading in parliament with unanimous support last night.
Antiques dealer highlights “nightmare” red tape of ivory ban on BBC politics show ahead of parliamentary debate
04 June 2018Antiques dealer Michael Baggott has highlighted on national television the huge amount of bureaucracy that will ensue when the proposed ivory ban becomes law.
Pick of the Week: Clock for Chinese market chimes with collecting tastes
28 May 2018The emperor Qianlong collected Western clocks throughout his 60-year reign, building upon the interest of his grandfather Kangxi.
The Chinese market seen in monochrome
28 May 2018Well-provenanced Chinese monochromes dominated bidding at recent Asian art sales across the UK regions.
Britain catches up on colonial past with tribal art specialisation
28 May 2018Last year the UK’s regional salerooms were treated to a generous handful of five- and six-figure bids for unappreciated masterworks of Aboriginal and Oceanian art – a Maori putorino or bugle flute sold to a French dealer for £140,000 at John Nicholson’s of Haslemere among them.
Ivory ban: What we now know
28 May 2018The 57-page UK ivory ban bill which was published last week deviates little from the proposals announced in April. Here ATG picks out some important points to note.
Final lots from renowned dealer up at auction
28 May 2018T Crowther & Sons was founded in 1880 in Fulham and was well established before the First World War. The company was split into two sections in the 1940s: Albert Crowther trading from Syon Lodge and T Crowther & Sons in Fulham.
The Chippendale style and influence
24 May 2018Chippendale’s move to a modest Kensington terrace house in 1776 probably marked his partial retirement from business at the age of 58. He would remarry the following year but died in 1779 leaving under £29 (not much more than the cost of one of the Dundas giltwood armchairs which sold at £20 each).
A lifetime of Chippendale
24 May 2018As a name synonymous with English furniture turns 300 years old this year, dealers are hoping the Chippendale 300 initiative can raise the profile of good English period furniture and inject some fresh pride in an historical craft.
The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director – the book that made Chippendale’s name
24 May 2018Much of Thomas Chippendale’s renown is thanks to his forward-thinking approach to business in the first decades of consumerism – and in particular the creation of a pioneering catalogue of furniture designs in the style of the great architectural books of the period.
Opportunity knocks for the capital's salerooms
24 May 2018The London auction community is gearing up for the summer season – and this year there is plenty of action beyond the big four.
Pick of the Week: Rare birds sighted in County Durham
21 May 2018Catalogued simply as ‘a pair of English soft-paste porcelain models of parrots’, these rare 18th century figures by Bow sold at Thomas Watson in Darlington, County Durham, for £16,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) on May 15.
Final sale of architectural salvage and sculpture from T Crowther & Sons takes place at Cambridge auction house
21 May 2018Cambridge-based auctioneers, Cheffins is to sell the remaining collection from once renowned architectural antiques business, T. Crowther & Sons.
Lodgings to reopen with Gillows saved
21 May 2018Lancashire County Council is to reopen Lancaster Judges’ Lodgings, home to a key collection of Gillows furniture.
Pick of the Week: Price is right on the gunmoney
14 May 2018A rare James II ‘gunmoney’ half-crown sold for €10,500 (£8850) at Whyte’s sale titled the Eclectic Collector in Dublin.
French rooms to team up for Aristophil sales
14 May 2018Three extra French auctioneers are to assist in the mammoth disposal of the Aristophil collections of historic manuscripts.
White-glove Rockefeller auction enters the record books
14 May 2018The epic white-glove sale of the David and Peggy Rockefeller collection at Christie’s New York has established a new high for a single-owner auction.
Hamilton collection proves near sell-out in Philadelphia saleroom
14 May 2018Unusual in the post-internet age, Freeman’s first-floor gallery in downtown Philadelphia was standing room-only for the April 29 auction of the collection of Dorrance ‘Dodo’ Hill Hamilton (1928-2017).