Decorative Art

Many single-owner collections appeared in the pages of ATG this year, usually as they came up at auction. The silver collection of the late Michael Baggott and the art, books and memorabilia collection of the late Barry Humphries were among the stand-out sales.

The latest sale at Alastair Gibson Auctions in Kent was led by a stellar example of Meiji or Taisho era cloisonné: a pair of imperial presentation vases by Nagoya master Hattori Tadasaburo.

While the market for post-war Whitefriars has waxed and waned in the past three decades, in 2025 several very active collectors have driven saleroom prices forward once again. It has been a strong year for the Geoffrey Baxter Textured range in particular.

This horn casket was presented to King Edward VII on March 28, 1901 by the Worshipful Company of Horners.

The city of Newcastle enjoyed a long gold and silversmithing tradition.

Numerous pieces of British Aesthetic movement and Arts & Crafts silver were up for sale at Lempertz (26% buyer’s premium) in Cologne on November 21.

Sir Henry Doulton placed great importance on international exhibitions to promote the work of both of his factories.

Collector Michael Blood’s passion for Victorian tiles was ignited at Rufford Abbey in Nottinghamshire when two 19th-century examples pressed into his hands during restoration first caught his eye.

The Zena Kwiatkowski Corrigan collection of tiles was sold by Kinghams (26% buyer’s premium) in Moreton-in-Marsh over 291 lots on October 30.

Offered for sale as ‘a Chinese porcelain teapot’ with a $100-1000 estimate, a famille rose Buddhist ewer with a Qianlong mark hammered for $200,000 at Hill Auction Gallery (30/28/25% buyer’s premium) in Sunrise, Florida, on October 29. No date or period was given.

Elwin de Wolf, based in the Netherlands, has been collecting silver enamel boxes for around 20 years.

‘Drum’ form mustard pots – known at the time as mustard tankards or cans – first emerged in the second half of the 18th century as the fashion changed from dry to wet mustard.

The 1882 Royal Worcester porcelain Patience teapot has become a satirical emblem of the Aesthetic movement.

This pair of mid-18th century Dresden sauceboats were once part of the huge holdings of silver used at the court of Frederick Augustus II (1733-63).

Late 19th century French or Swiss singing bird boxes are regular auction visitors. Double bird boxes are a much rarer breed.

Charles Robert Ashbee’s pseudo medieval wirework silver and glass jugs and bottles rank among the Guild of Handicraft’s finest work.

For the third time in a year, a new auction record for Wedgwood Fairyland lustre has been set by Woody Auction in Douglass, Kansas.

Although Malta supported an estimated 600 makers from 1680-1820, relatively little silver from the period survived on the island.