Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Rice wine pots come to Europe
24 April 2023While probably not made specifically for export, Chinese silver rice wine pots had arrived in Europe as early as the late 17th century.
Special allure of provincial silver
24 April 2023Objects from Norwich, York, Ireland and Newcastle in recent sales give a snapshot of the market
Jugs owned by a gambling man worth a punt at auction
24 April 2023This pair of silver-mounted frosted glass claret jugs has marks for James Samuel Hunt and London, 1844.
Reverse appeal reflects export mirror’s condition
17 April 2023This 18th century Chinese export reverse-painted mirror in a period gilt frame took a five-figure sum at auction.
Pick of the week: Mosaic for the Bloomsbury set in demand at Berkshire auction
17 April 2023Boris Vasilyevich Anrep (1883-1969), a Russian who lived and worked for most of his life in Britain, is not well known today.
On the origin of the ‘survival of the fittest’ comes to London auction
17 April 2023This copy of 'The Study of Sociology' by Herbert Spencer is a first edition from 1875 in original cloth.
A silver-gilt bell used at George II's coronation is among five lots to watch
17 April 2023With estimates from £200, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
South American funerary urn stands-out as private collections galore come to Essex auction
17 April 2023Among the highlights of Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Interiors sale was a remarkable anthropomorphic funerary urn from Ecuador.
How colour influences value when it comes to Lalique glass
17 April 2023The latest dedicated sales held by one particular auction house show how the value of Lalique glass – the epitome of inter-war glamour – is determined by its colour
Racehorses print gallops to £1200
17 April 2023Bay Malton and Gimcrack are the two most famous flat-racing horses of the 1760s.
18th century glass: politics that is mixed with pleasure
17 April 2023The ideas of ‘liberty’ as a cause and a concept were not confined to the coffee shops of Boston and Philadelphia.
Swansea porcelain plate stars in our pick of five auction highlights
14 April 2023ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a Thomas Baxter decorated Swansea porcelain plate that sold on top estimate in Cardiff.
No market wobble here as jelly mould sets new auction record
10 April 2023This rare Victorian copper jelly mould shaped as a tortoise or turtle on rockwork sold for a remarkable £2000 at Brighton & Hove Auctions.
Pick of the week: Poor Taff morphed into symbol of pride
10 April 2023Before the familiar image of a lady in tall black hat and shawl took hold, the stereotype of Welsh identity was Shon-Ap-Morgan or Poor Taff.
A rare South African Dinky toy car is among five lots to watch
10 April 2023With estimates from £280, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Elephant with a lighter touch
10 April 2023Tennants’ Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver sale, held concurrently with the Country House auction on March 18 included a very tactile and much-coveted Fabergé silver table lighter in the form of a walking Indian elephant.
Flight’s pride in family porcelain connection
10 April 2023The Collections sale at Bonhams (27.5% buyer’s premium) in London on March 21 included more than 70 lots of Regency porcelain from the collection of the Conservative party politician Howard Emerson Flight.