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Arron Rimpley poses with a Jacobs seven-cylinder radial engine made in 1944. The fine example of industrial art, with its aluminum engine and steel cylinders, is a wonder of aviation technology and history. The work dates back to Rimpley’s previous gallery, The Whitley Collection. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn.

Lion and Unicorn’s Arron Rimpley: collecting is in his DNA

Arron Rimpley poses with a Jacobs seven-cylinder radial engine made in 1944. The fine example of industrial art, with its aluminum engine and steel cylinders, is a wonder of aviation technology and history. The work dates back to Rimpley’s previous gallery, The Whitley Collection. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn.
Arron Rimpley poses with a Jacobs seven-cylinder radial engine made in 1944. The fine example of industrial art, with its aluminum engine and steel cylinders, is a wonder of aviation technology and history. The work dates back to Rimpley’s previous gallery, The Whitley Collection. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Arron Rimpley, founder of Lion and Unicorn, has long been a collector, starting when he gathered rocks as a child in his native Colorado. At age 23, he came to Miami and began working in the antiques business, soon specializing in British decorative arts. He set up at the antiques industry’s top shows around the country and helped museums mount exhibitions before deciding to open the Whitley Collection in 2000, through which he created experiences that allowed collectors to see objects in new ways. That same approach guided him when he launched Lion and Unicorn in January 2018. Rimpley’s goal is to provide top-notch customer service and well-researched information to make buying a breeze and also create an information record that helps preserve the material he auctions.

Tell me about the “Art and Antiques Research Center” sign on your door, and what it means.

My big overarching goal is to leave something behind for future generations to be able to find information about material. On one of my websites, seawaychina.com, you can find every Royal Doulton figure that was ever made and every Lladro figure ever made, with details of who the artist was. I do a lot of work to recreate the artist biographies, to try to find information about these artists that was unknown. It’s important to have that information out [there] for the future. If I can leave that legacy behind, it would be amazing for future collectors and for the preservation of this material.

A Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre vase and lid designed by renowned artist Daisy Makeig-Jones attained $42,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2018. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.
A Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre vase and lid designed by renowned artist Daisy Makeig-Jones attained $42,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2018. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.

Besides sharing a lot of research through your catalogs, your website and your blog about objects, how do you create experiences for collectors buying and selling?

I am a collector, and I understand how collectors think. Everything I do is from a collector standpoint. I treat these clients like they are high-end retail buyers at Tiffany’s. I treat them as if I need that consignor for the rest of my life and I need them to call me over and over, even though most of these deals are one-time, finished and done.

A Royal Doulton jester figure by Charles Noke, dating to the 1920s, sold for $30,000 plus the buyer’s premium in December 2021. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.
A Royal Doulton jester figure by Charles Noke, dating to the 1920s, sold for $30,000 plus the buyer’s premium in December 2021. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.

One of your specialties is Royal Doulton. Why are collectors so passionate about these figures?

I think that there is an emotional connection with the material, and I don’t think it’s specifically Royal Doulton. Within the genre, there are people who collect penguins, and it just so happens that there’s a Royal Doulton penguin. Really, what they are doing is they are trying to connect with something in their past or something that they identify with. I’ve worked with collectors for a very long time, and sometimes it is not the brand but something around the brand. With Royal Doulton, for instance, a lot of people are Anglophiles, and for whatever reason they really identify with England.

Royal Doulton figures are unique in their design and in their styling. When I am marketing the material, I try to open up and expand the market by the way I describe it. Sometimes when you put the material back in its context, people kind of look at it differently, and it attracts a different kind of buyer.

This Chinese carved red coral sculpture depicting three immortals realized $40,000 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2019. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.
This Chinese carved red coral sculpture depicting three immortals realized $40,000 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2019. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.

How is the market doing, generally, in your experience?

The collectibles market is getting stronger every day. It’s kind of remarkable because people were dooming and glooming for so long and I actually think the opposite has happened. During Covid, a lot of people were home and they were unhappy and looked back at what they used to collect or love. I noticed a big uptick in people watching Lion and Unicorn online, contacting us and being reinvigorated. They could not go to antiques shows, and online, it opened up this whole world of possibilities.

What inspired your business name, Lion and Unicorn?

I am originally a British decorative arts specialist and the lion and the unicorn are British symbols — very iconic symbols that evoke a visual and memorable feeling. The lion is the strong part, and the unicorn is this mysterious creature, and I just loved the symbolism. I felt it was a respectful nod to how everything started for me with British decorative arts. Interestingly, people love it and it creates this elegant feel.

Rimpley began his career as a British decorative arts specialist, and English arts remain a favorite of his. This glazed Wally Bird tobacco jar with a detachable head earned $23,000 plus the buyer’s premium in July 2018. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.
Rimpley began his career as a British decorative arts specialist, and English arts remain a favorite of his. This Martin Brothers glazed Wally Bird tobacco jar with a detachable head earned $23,000 plus the buyer’s premium in July 2018. Image courtesy of Lion and Unicorn and LiveAuctioneers.

What excites you most about this business?

Seeing regular material that had been discarded in the marketplace just a few years ago actually selling and doing well again. It’s exciting to see the market shift and to see. specifically on LiveAuctioneers. how many collectors are actually out there. It’s kind of mind-boggling just to understand how large the market is. It’s incredible how many people are out there and they’re interested in different things.

To contact Arron Rimpley or to discuss a future consignment to Lion and Unicorn, call 954.866.8044. Click to visit Lion and Unicorn online.