Decorative Art

On account of its relative scarcity, all Irish silver carries a premium. It is the pieces made in small provincial centres that are most highly prized.

After almost 50 years on public display in the silver galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a James I silver shell-form spice or sugar box was offered for sale at Salisbury saleroom Woolley & Wallis.

Modern British ceramics are rarely offered by German auction houses. Among the notable exceptions is the Kunst & Design Auktionshaus Schops Turowski, based in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Underpinned by bids from the internet, silver from beyond the British Isles is these days a stronger feature of provincial sales.

Dr Stewart Abbott is partner at S&J Abbott Ceramics Plus, which is among the exhibitors at the upcoming Petworth Park Antiques and Fine Art Fair.

English and Continental porcelain from several notable estates is included in Stair Galleries’ next fine sale in Hudson, New York, on April 27-28.

Despite the general controversy about the material – one that has momentarily taken a back seat as Brexit eats parliamentary time – an exceptional ivory work of art still has the capacity to impress in the saleroom.

Pook & Pook’s next American and International sale in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, on May 4 will feature a selection of Chinese export porcelain.

Now a regular fixture for a number of auction houses, specialist Modern Design sales have moved a long way since the days when the title could mean mountains of Moorcroft and Clarice Cliff and not a lot more.

Lyon & Turnbull’s (25% buyer’s premium) inaugural Modern Made auction at the Mall Galleries in London received plenty of encouraging noises from the dealing and collecting community as it posted a total of £1m (including premium).

Based in one of the great centres of English glass, Fieldings (20% buyer’s premium) of Stourbridge has been building its reputation for glass sales over the past 15 years and today “nobody sells more glass than we do”, says specialist Will Farmer.

Some time in the early 1930s, the burghers of Norwich City Council appear to have been sufficiently cutting-edge as to purchase furniture by the designer destined to become one of the major names of 20th century design, Alvar Aalto (1898-1976).

The recent Modern Living sale at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) was dominated by ‘Mouseman’ furniture, something of a speciality at the Leyburn rooms.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

The story of Queen Anne, who ruled from 1702 to her death in 1714, is now much more widely known after the Oscar-winning portrayal by Olivia Colman in 'The Favourite'.

MADAM – I write in response to the letter by Simon Butt (ATG No 2386) titled 'Mystery Napoleon link' and requesting information on a soft paste pot pourri depicting Longwood House.

A Rosenthal porcelain model of the princess and the frog, c.1910, by Leo Rauth is among the objects on offer at The Cotswolds Decorative Antiques & Art Fair.

A Hutschenreuther Porcelain mocca set decorated with silver overlay in the studios of Friedrich Spahr is among the works on offer at The Duncombe Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair where it is available from John Newton Antiques for £1050.

Bearing later Georgian or Victorian embossed decoration, this 13¾in (35cm) diameter, 22oz silver charger, below, was a much earlier work.