Ceramics

The latest Design Since 1860 sale at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh was topped by four Morris & Co tile panels depicting the Labours of the Months dated to c.1865.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including exhibition devoted to the Victorian art potter William De Morgan at auction house Kinghams.

An auction titled China 500 Years held by Mayfair orientalist firm Plakas (29% buyer’s premium) included a rare Kangxi (1662-1722) blue and white porcelain toilet garniture.

The unknown maker of this commemorative creamware mug produced for the coronation of King George IV seems to have been in a rush.

Augustus the Strong, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was known as a monumental collector.

Founded in 1751 at the behest of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, ‘The Royal Prussian Asiatic Company in Emden to Canton and China’ aimed to profit from the trade between Europe and China.

The Flemish designer Henry van de Velde excelled in many fields, working as a painter and architect, before he devoted himself to creating a multitude of designs, from cutlery to furniture, from wallpaper to porcelain.

The March 3-4 sale at Chorley’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Prinknash Abbey, Gloucestershire, was topped by a good example of Qing imperial needlework: a yellow ground silk and metal thread cushion cover.

Lacklustre pre-sale activity leaves Canadian auction house concerned but all 17 lots sell successfully

Though leeches do remain in the pharmacopeia, they’re no longer stored in the ceramic jars and urns common to pharmacies of the 18th and 19th century.

The first mention of plans for a Wedgwood earthenware chess set occurs in a bill from a 30-year-old John Flaxman dated March 8, 1785.

Eighteenth century Meissen bought by a porcelain enthusiast from east Asia comes for sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris on April 22.

Specialist dealer sells items from his collection in two-day auction as he heads towards semi-retirement

Whether it’s at a hotel, a restaurant or even in a car, he secures sales without an actual fair presence

Elements of a well-documented Empire period Sèvres dinner and dessert service surfaced at Kinghams (26% buyer’s premium) in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, on March 4.

I’ve been collecting octopus objects for many years and have some interesting and unusual items, though sadly most of my netsukes, although of the finest craftsmanship, are ivory and no longer buyable or tradeable.

The latest sale of Cornish Art, Fine Art & Studio Pottery at Lay’s (21% buyer’s premium) in Penzance featured 85 lots from the personal art collection of Michael Hunt.

Among the most desirable of the Chinese export porcelain patterns made for the Dutch market is the so-called ‘skating lesson’ design.

Joan B Mirviss uses Asia Week New York to launch its spring exhibition Six Celestials, featuring works by modern artists who laid the groundwork for contemporary Japanese clay work.