Ceramics

MADAM – I read with great interest Roland Arkell’s feature on collecting work by the Martin Brothers (ATG No 2226). Roland cites three exhibitions which he states are “landmarks” but leaves out perhaps the most important.

August is traditionally the month when most of the auction world takes a breather. But in Scotland, where well-heeled holiday-makers tread, there is no let-up.

The interest in studio pottery goes beyond the premier names in the field. Three pieces by Waistel Cooper (1921-2003), a Scot who worked first in Porlock in Somerset and later from the Barbican Pottery in Penzance, generated plenty of bidding at Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19% buyer’s premium) July 6 sale in Taunton.

Leading the sale of Arts & Crafts at the Woolley & Wallis June 21 sale was the monumental Pilkington’s Lancastrian vase shown above, standing some 48cm (19in) high.

Two events organised by Brian and Anna Haughton featured among the busy programme of London events in June.

It was, said specialist Michael Jeffery, “one of, if not the finest, collections of Burmantofts put together by a private individual”.

Following a near sell-out auction of Lowestoft in March at Keys of Aylsham, another tranche is poised to go under the saleroom’s hammer.

AD Antiques, run by British art pottery specialist Alison Davey, is selling this grotesque spoon warmer by the Martin Brothers.

A Sèvres teapot from the Louis-Philippe era sold for an unexpected £13,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Kingham & Orme in Broadway, Worcestershire, on June 17.

A massive Burmantofts faience charger sold for £13,000 (plus 22% buyer’s premium) at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury on June 22 – the highlight of a remarkable collection of more than 700 pieces by the Leeds factory.

A pair of 12in (30cm) high Sèvres hard paste vases painted with elaborate chinoiserie sea battles by Jean-Jacques Dieu, proved the highlight of Bonhams’ June 14 sale of European ceramics.

A group of five 8in (20cm) William de Morgan (1839-1917) tiles drew lively competitive bids at Cuttlestones in Wolverhampton on June 8.

On July 13 Boston saleroom Skinner will be offering the Victor & Muriel Polikoff Collection comprising nearly 300 lots of 18th and early 19th century ceramics.

Figurative sculptor Christy Keeney from Donegal, Ireland, has been an exhibitor at the Earth and Fire International Ceramic Fair in Nottinghamshire for 16 of the 22 annual events held so far.