Ceramics

Ceramics are among the most frequently collected antiques. Items made from earthernware (pottery) or porcelain (hard or soft paste) can serve functional roles such as tablewares, serving implements, vases and jugs or as ornaments, especially figures.

They usually have some form of decoration, either painted or transfer-printed, that is covered in transparent or coloured glaze. Ceramics are often catalogued by the name of their manufacturer or factory such as Meissen, Worcester, Doulton, Wedgwood and Sèvres.


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Sully surfaces for a £17,000 sale

19 August 2019

Clock produced by Englishman influential in French horology impresses in Norfolk auction.

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Pick of the week: Sale supplies simple bear accessory of life as Doulton Lambeth discovery found among the weeds

12 August 2019

When auctioneer Tony Pratt spotted a mysterious shape in the undergrowth of a back garden in Hythe he wasn’t expecting to uncover a very large pottery bear.

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Scottish ceramics shine in Stoke

05 August 2019

Sold in the heartlands of English ceramics, this example, below, of Scotland’s finest was the estimate-shattering star of Potteries Auctions’ (20% buyer’s premium) July 13-14 sale in Stoke-on-Trent.

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Bauhaus: Miscellaneous manufacturing including ceramics from Velten-Vordamm factory

05 August 2019

One of the offshoots of the Bauhaus was the ceramic factory in Velten-Vordamm, just north of Berlin. Much of the stoneware designed by the ceramic artists at the school was executed there, several examples of which came up for sale at Quittenbaum.

Wedgwood Fairyland lustre vase

Fairyland lustre still sparkles from the rostrum

29 July 2019

The market for Wedgwood ceramics may not be as bullish as it was three decades ago but this range of wares, produced from the First World War through the interwar period, continues to enjoy some of the strongest demand for the factory’s products which stretch across two and a half centuries.

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Jug celebrates a rotten result in 1812 election

22 July 2019

Anglicised, Anglican and Tory landowners controlled many aspects of Welsh life in the Georgian period – particularly when it came to politics.

Meissen bust of Karl Albrecht, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII

Meissen bust of Holy Roman Emperor sold to Bavarian museum at Bonhams’ auction

15 July 2019

The Bavarian National Museum in Munich has purchased this sculptural bust in white Meissen porcelain of Karl Albrecht, the Elector of Bavaria and also Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII (1697-1745).

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Wedgwood collection emerges from collector’s fairyland flat

15 July 2019

Visit by auctioneer to a regular auction-goer’s apartment uncovers Wedgwood collection.

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Romantic Russians in figure form

15 July 2019

The Patriotic War of 1812 stirred up powerful feelings of national pride in Russia.

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Zoffany drawing and Chelsea mug shine in London Art Week

08 July 2019

A black and white chalk on paper drawing of Jupiter and Antiope by Johan Zoffany (1733-1810) was among the highlight sales during London Art Week (LAW).

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Figure stars on Birmingham stage at Art & Antiques for Everyone

08 July 2019

Depiction of actor is one of the more traditional offerings at fair set to broaden its horizons.

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Big bids from collectors for Moorcroft little and large

01 July 2019

The recent sale of a single-owner collection of Moorcroft pottery by Kingham & Orme in Evesham demonstrated two distinct faces of the Staffordshire factory.

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Dove design wings its way to auction

01 July 2019

Scantily catalogued as a Georgian/Victorian micro-mosaic plaque depicting a dove, a classic example of the pieces produced by Italian craftsmen and beloved by wealthy Britons on the Grand Tour was equally appreciated by bidders at Stroud Auctions (18% buyer’s premium).

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Surprise result as Fabergé-Stroganov collaboration helps vase to 157-times estimate

01 July 2019

Morphy Auctions’ latest Fine & Decorative Arts sale held in Denver, Pennsylvania included this unusual 7½in (19cm) Russian silver-mounted pottery vase.

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Moorcroft in miniature – a microcosm of the art pottery world

01 July 2019

No good library of British art pottery literature is complete without a copy of Paul Atterbury’s 'Moorcroft'. The jacket illustration alone with its myriad tube-lined miniatures in a bewildering range of forms and patterns is particularly memorable. More than one collector has attempted to emulate the beguiling display.

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Tyneside ceramics hero – and footballer

24 June 2019

Ceramics commemorating the coronation of Edward VIII are less rare than often supposed, having been produced in abundance before the coronation was aborted. Most bring relatively small sums.

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Pearlware gallops to BADA event

24 June 2019

A rare 19th century pearlware horse is available to buyers visiting BADA’s inaugural staging of the BADA Collection at 46 Pimlico Road this summer.

Crab

Record-breaking Martin Brothers grinning crab barred from export

18 June 2019

A ‘colossal and extraordinary grotesque grinning crab’ by the Martin Brothers that sold at auction last year has been temporarily barred from export from the UK.

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Early Worcester plate among ceramics offered at 'A Collectors’ Paradise' in London

17 June 2019

A rare early Worcester plate, c.1752, painted in Chinese famille verte style is offered by dealer Robyn Robb at 'A Collectors’ Paradise', the annual group selling show of pottery and porcelain in St James’s. Offered for £9500, it features a bird perched on a flowering prunus tree.

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