Decorative Art

The elegant Château d’Enghien, 30 kilometres south west of Brussels, will once again play host to the Belgium ceramics fair next month, from May 1-5.

Dreesmann’s 132 lots of Dutch silver made a major input into Christie’s Amsterdam (20.825/11.9% buyer’s premium) session of his collection, accounting for five of the ten highest prices and completely selling out.

The curious inhabitants of Middle Earth have existed quite happily (and vividly) in the minds of readers since J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic The Lord of the Rings first appeared in the 1950s.

Glass from Islamic Lands by Stefano Carboni, published by Thames & Hudson in association with The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum. ISBN 0500976066. £40 pb

WITH nearly 300 ceramics and glass lots covering a range of interests, there was almost bound to be one surprise at this Midlands sale for Bonhams on 13 March.

The Doulton Lambeth Wares by Desmond Eyles, revised by Louise Irvine, published by Richard Dennis Publications, The Old Chapel, Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset, TA19 0LE. ISBN 090368579 £60 hb.

SEVEN decades of work by Susie Cooper, one of Britain’s keynote ceramics designers, is the subject of ‘Susie Cooper Style’, an exhibition running until the autumn at the Wedgwood Story visitor centre at Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent.

From the time commission bids began to come in, it was plain one item would tower above everything else at the 558-lot Harrogate sale held by Morphets (15/10% buyer’s premium) on March 7 – the Archibald Knox silver wine flagon shown right.

The continued demand for Art Nouveau and the ageless appeal of the female nude provided a winning combination at the sale held by Richard Winterton (11% buyer’s premium) at Burton-on-Trent on March 13.

This silver novelty bookcase 121/2in (32cm) high, pictured right, marked for George Betjemann & Sons 1907, drew huge interest both before the sale and when it went under the hammer at Bonhams’ Knightbridge rooms on March 12. It left the auctioneers’ £300-400 estimate standing as it was pursued to £4300.

A silver trophy in the shape of an artist’s palette is unusual enough without it being designed to reward a scientist. But this award dates from a period in Irish art history when painters were proficient, but their paint was poor.

Decorative arts are especially popular in this part of the West Country, where New Age culture and the wealth of new technology has created a sympathetic market for antiques in general and the arts and crafts in particular.

A series of strong bids brought a total of £51,900 for a Chelsea fable painted part-tea service at Lawrence’s of Crewkerne on March 14.

Wallpaper in Interior Decoration by Gill Saunders, published by V&A Publications ISBN 1851773460 £30hb

Perfect conditions were required for the production of 18th century soft paste porcelain, but work only began on this rare group, right, after three ships laden with 44 factory staff and 88 tons of equipment had been ferried from Italy to Spain.

SILVER: Good commercially appealing entries were what was finding favour with both trade and private buyers at Christie’s South Kensington’s second silver sale of the year, the 158-lot £136,123 gathering held on February 19.

Top seller at a brisk day’s bidding at the Cheltenham sale held by Mallams (15% premium) on January 31 was a pair of classical style gilt metal and lapis lazuli urns and covers, one shown right.

The Caddy Spoon in the 20th Century, published by the Society of Caddy Spoon Collectors, Upper Nordens Clinic, Royal Oak Lane, High Hurstwood, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 4AN, price £12.60 including p&p.

Transferring fine vintage wines from the bottle to the decanter without disturbing the sediment has been an age-old concern of those who take their wine seriously. It was clearly a concern in the 18th century, as can be attested by this ingenious and now rare George II silver wine syphon, right, which came under the hammer at Christie’s South Kensington’s (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) February 19 sale of Selected Silver and Plate.

USA: Wedgwood wares formed a significant slice of Skinner’s (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) 890-lot auction of English and Continental furniture and decorations on January 19. Of the 230-odd lots of ceramics that featured in the sale, two-thirds comprised works from that factory.