Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
Early map provides wall to wall coverage of London south of the Thames
01 April 2024Seventeenth century map of Bermondsey area reveals garden suburb character in a pre-industrial age
Archaic style to modern taste when it comes to Clarice Cliff
01 April 2024The Clarice Cliff, Art Deco & Design auction at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on March 20 included this rare 10in (25cm) vase, shape no 375, decorated in the Archaic pattern mirroring a capital design from a temple in Luxor.
‘It felt like the old heyday of Clarice’
01 April 2024Three-hundred lot sale of the Art Deco classic shows signs of the market returning to 1990s boom time
Calder’s tapestries – the South American versions
01 April 2024Alexander Calder (1898-1976) first produced designs for tapestries made at the Aubusson factory in the early 1960s.
Pick of the week: Dutch Golden Age relic blossoms
01 April 2024The gift of the private collection of the late George Withers keeps on giving.
Western horology ticked Chinese requirements
01 April 2024Just as rich Europeans coveted Chinese porcelain and lacquer in the 18th and 19th century, so the Chinese were fascinated by Western horology.
Early Khanna creation emerges in New Jersey
01 April 2024A relatively early work by the Indian post-war painter Krishen Khanna (b.1925) hammered for $116,000 (£90,500) against an estimate of $4000-8000 at Taurus Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).
Pick of the week: Buyer is a big fan of Giroux’s work
25 March 2024A pair of 19th century Parisian novelty silhouette hand screens, made by François Simon Alphonse Giroux, doubled their estimate at auction.
Rediscovered third Burges piece in 13 years sells at auction
25 March 2024A brooch by the great Victorian designer and architect William Burges, found with the help of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, has sold for £9500 at Leicestershire auction house Gildings.
Christmas wish came true for metal detectorist who found ancient and medieval combo
25 March 2024“It had”, said the metal detectorist who found it, “been a wonderful Christmas present.”
Roman heads bust through the million mark
25 March 2024Three over life-size Roman portrait busts with an 18th century provenance linked to Cobham Hall in Kent have sold for a combined £1.26m hammer at Lyon & Turnbull.
Pair of Portland stone sculptures by Charles Sargeant Jagger are among six lots to watch
25 March 2024With estimates from £120, here are six previews of lots coming up at auction this week.
Panoramas pick up six-figure sums in Italy
25 March 2024Two titled topographical views by a journeyman 18th century Venetian artist excelled at the Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings sale at Wannenes (35% buyer’s premium) in Genoa.
Clarice Cliff topper
25 March 2024The highest auction price for Clarice Cliff for some years was posted on March 14 when an 18in (46cm) ribbed charger in the Applique Etna pattern sold for £18,500 (plus 26% buyer’s premium) at Fieldings.
A product of his time but Bugatti’s fantasies were all his own
25 March 2024In 1902, while visiting stands at the Esposizione Internationale d’Arte Decorativa Moderna in Turin, the Queen of Italy congratulated Carlo Bugatti on his ‘Moresque’ style of furniture. He reportedly replied, “You are mistaken, majesty, this style is mine!”
Third Antiques Roadshow-discovered Burges brooch sells at auction
22 March 2024A brooch by the great Victorian designer and architect William Burges, found with the help of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, has sold for £9500 at Leicestershire auction house Gildings.
“Three monumental sculptures with monumental prices to boot”
21 March 2024Three over life-size Roman portrait busts with an 18th century provenance to Cobham Hall in Kent have sold for a combined £1.26m at Lyon & Turnbull.
Napkin contract that signed a 13-year-old Lionel Messi to Barcelona FC comes to auction
20 March 2024What is probably the world’s most famous napkin – the document that secured the services of a young Lionel Messi to Barcelona FC – comes to auction at Bonhams.
Etna charger erupts at Clarice Cliff auction
18 March 2024Last sold in 1994, a well-known Newport Pottery promotional piece brings £18,500 in Stourbridge.