Decorative Art

The Cotswold Art & Antiques Dealers’ Association (CADA) held its first London fair - Cotswold Art Antiques Chelsea - at Chelsea Old Town Hall on the King’s Road from March 20-23.

Shelley produced the geometric Vogue and Mode shape tea and coffee wares between 1930-32 - both the designs of Eric Slater (1902-84) who had worked at the factory since the end of the First World War.

New Zealand-born architect Keith Murray (1892-1981) began to make designs for Wedgwood on a commercial basis in 1933, joining a stable of designers that included Daisy Makeig-Jones and John Skeaping.

With this year marking the 100th anninversary of the exhibition that gave Art Deco its name, we report on the British designers whose creations appear on the market

Graham Slater (1927-2024) was fascinated by relics of Stuart and Georgian Britain. His wife Rosemary shared his passions, including his love of mudlarking, exploring the banks of the Thames for fragments washed up by each new tide.

The sale at Bellmans (25% buyer’s premium) in Billingshurst, West Sussex on February 17 included a small silver gilt rococo-style cream jug of a type that remains something of an enigma.

Noke’s portrait of a humiliated child was one of the very first models from the Royal Doulton HN series

Among the most desirable of all Scottish garden ornaments are the Garnkirk urns, a pair of neoclassical vases first made for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

A spectacular Wedgwood Fairyland lustre vase in the Dragon King pattern has sold for $87,500 (£67,900) in Kansas.

A Georgian silver coffee pot that once formed part of the silver at the White House has emerged for sale in Gloucestershire.

The continuing interest of international collectors for ceramics by the Zsolnay factory in Pécs in south-west Hungary could be seen at a recent auction held by Mehlis (24% buyer’s premium) in Plauen.

A Renaissance gilt bronze medal made to mark the marriage of Queen Mary I (1516-58) and King Philip II (1527-98) sold for £15,500 at Sloane Street Auctions (26.5% buyer’s premium).

An early 18th century onion-shaped decanter or carafe offered at Halls (24% buyer’s premium) in Shrewsbury was of particular interest for a point-engraved inscription to the body. It read 'The Kit Kat Club at the Fountain Tavern on the Strand'.

Windows from 1923 by a master of the craft mark the move from Art Nouveau to Art Deco

A monumental and important William De Morgan architectural tile panel with an exceptional provenance has sold for £65,000 in Stourbridge.

The Cheong family collection of Martin Brothers comes for sale at Bonhams in Sydney on March 27.

In a market that waxes and wanes, recent sales suggest collectors are active and pushing up prices

Since the 16th century, silversmiths in Germany have produced so-called Brautbecher (bridal beakers), a tradition that still exists today.

A rare example of 17th century Newcastle silver holloware sold for £7500 at Chiswick Auctions’ (26% buyer’s premium) latest specialist sale of Silver and Objects of Vertu.