Two World Record Prices for British Pottery Sale
30th November 2012British Art Pottery, 20th Century Design
Two world record prices were achieved by Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury Saleroom as part of the British Art Pottery sale on the 28th November.
The sale included a fine selection of Moorcroft pottery from The Ken Manley Collection, the finest private collection in the country. Just 10 pieces from the collection provided the highlight of the sale with two private collectors battling it out to secure the rare Flambe Carp pattern vase (lot 221) for £26,840 (a world record price for a Moorcroft vase at auction) and the unique Hesperian Ware Carp pattern jardinière and stand (lot 225) also selling for £26,840.
Top price on the day was reserved for a rare Martin Brothers stoneware grotesque jar and cover modelled as a seated, grotesque figure with balding pate, which surpassed the estimate (£30,000-40,000) to achieve £61,000 (including premium), the highest price realised for a piece of Martin Brothers pottery at auction, Kinghams Art Pottery of Chipping Camden being the successful bidder. Contemporary to the Martin ware was a Doulton Lambeth stoneware mouse group menu holder, by George Tinworth, dated 1885, whimsically modelled with mice learning to read the alphabet from a blackboard (lot 77) which sold for £4,880 (incl. premium).
The sale also highlighted studio pottery with over 200 lots included in the auction. Leading this section was a fine Lucie Rie bowl covered in a pure white glaze (lot 558) consigned by descendants from the Berkeley Gallery, London - the gallery credited with introducing Lucie Rie's work to the London Art Scene. It sold to a Japanese collector for £8,300 including premium.
Michael Jeffery, head of the 20th Century Design department at Woolley & Wallis commented
'This was our finest specialist auction to date, with record bids and interest from all around the world which led to world records being set'.
