Strong following for the right potters

17th December 2018

A continued keen interest in the best examples of art pottery have led to a successful last sale of the year for our Design department.

The British Art Pottery auction started with a section dedicated to the pioneers of the studio pottery movement - the Martin Brothers. Lot 11, a fine Dragon vase painted by Edwin & Walter Martin and dated 1892, sold to a private collector for £9,000. The next lot was a fine jar and cover modelled by Robert Wallace Martin in 1884, and this grotesque dog-like creature provided the top lot of the sale, selling for £42,500 to another private collector.

The high prices continued with two fine William De Morgan triple lustre tiles, selling for £7,500  and £6,000 respectively, and coming close to breaking the auction record for a De Morgan tile, set by Woolley and Wallis in December 2013 at £8,800 (details here).

A strong studio pottery section featured work by Dame Lucie Rie, John Ward, Ewen Henderson, Walter Keeler and John Maltby, with the wares of Ward and Keeler all finding new homes. The recent figural work by John Maltby also saw an increase in popularity with the Black Boat sculpture (lot 359) selling for the highest price of £1,200 (hammer).

Specialist Michael Jeffery commented: ‘Although the market was selective, we saw strong interest and bidding for good examples of art pottery in fine condition’.