Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

Φ Richard Batterham (1936-2021)

a stoneware melon teapot and cover, covered in an ash glaze to the foot,

unsigned, painted cobalt 3, small chip to spout tip,

14.5cm. high (2)

Provenance

The Collection of Michael and Henrietta Gough

Introduction

Michael and Henrietta Gough were avid collectors, who filled their Dorset home with paintings and ceramics. The collection’s focus was Modern British Art, and many of the artist’s they collected became great friends with the couple, most notably Elisabeth Frink and Mary Fedden. Frink’s home and studio at Woolland was nearby, and Fedden was a frequent visitor to Dorset. Indeed several of the works offered here have personalised dedications from Fedden to Michael and Henrietta. The couple’s taste was wide-ranging, and the collection includes examples by Winifred Nicholson, John Craxton, Maggi Hambling and Euan Uglow. They also collected late 19^th and early 20^th century continental drawings, by artists such as Pierre Bonnard, Théophile Steinlen and Jean-Louis Forain.

Michael and Henrietta married in 1981 and prior to this Henrietta had worked at Sotheby’s. Michael was an actor, who acted in the Hammer horror films and Doctor Who, playing the titular villain in The Celestial Toymaker. His most famous role was probably as Batman’s butler Alfred in four films, opposite variously George Clooney, Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer