Ceramics

Beatrix Potter was a pioneer of character merchandising. Two years after the publication of the first of her ‘little books’ she designed, fabricated and patented her own Peter Rabbit stuffed toy in 1903 – making him the first ever licensed character.*

Cross collecting helps plate from Washington’s Order of the Cincinatti service to take a six-figure price

A sale of Meissen at Revere Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) held in St Paul, Minnesota, included some prized pieces.

In 1862, just a year after the founding of the Morris, Marshall & Faulkner Company at Red Lion Square, a circular was sent to prospective clients to announce the ‘revival of the art of painting on china tiles’.

New England Auctions – Fred Giampietro (26% buyer’s premium) of Branford, Connecticut, continues to win big with leech jars from the collection of the late Dr Jerry Phelps (1935-2025), an anesthesiologist from Kentucky.

A pair of William De Morgan ruby lustre four tile panels depicting galleons in full sail with fish swimming in sea sold for a top estimate £6000 at Martel Maides (20% buyer’s premium) in St Peter Port, Guernsey.

Two small single-owner collections of Martin Brothers stoneware were offered in June: one at Catherine Southon (27.6% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Chislehurst, Kent, on June 17, the other as part of the Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) June 25 sale in Sherborne, Dorset.

Items from the collection of architect Christopher Smallwood (1937-2024) were offered for sale at Dreweatts on May 13.

A triple-faced owl vase by the Zsolnay factory hammered for $9000 (£6610) at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium).

Banker and businessman Jörg Woltmann, who rescued the Berlin porcelain manufacturer, now also acquires a huge vase by the firm.

Each June, a familiar circuit of selling exhibitions draws collectors, dealers and specialists in porcelain and ceramics to London.

The French sculptor Paul Comolera (1818-1897) first appears in the Minton records in October 1873 and is listed until 1876. During this short time, he created some of Minton’s greatest models of animals which were often observed from life.

Two impressive vases from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg took top honours at the sale held by Auktionshaus OWL (27% buyer’s premium) on May 16 in Bad Driburg in North-Rhine-Westfalia.

This 10½in (26cm) high Meiji period cloisonné vase from the workshop of Namikawa Sosuke came for sale at Olympia Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) on May 6 with a primary provenance.

The cuerda seca (dry cord or kashi) technique of decorating tiles was developed in Central Asia during the latter part of the 14th century.

The story of this late 19th century Russian beaker goes back to a boarding house in Harrogate in 1894.

From May 26-29 Gloucestershire auction house Kinghams held a spring exhibition titled 'William De Morgan Master Potter'.

Collection of popular and well-respected Austrian figure puts in a notable performance at auction