12 2nd April 2011
london selection Results enter the realms
■ Wedgwood Fairyland lustre prices remain strong as Ceramic Design sale nets £650,000
Anne Crane reports
FOR a relatively brief period from 1915-29, the Wedgwood factory, that upstanding producer of traditional tableware and classical decorative pieces, made a sortie into the world of whimsy and fantasy courtesy of its Fairyland lustre range. And this world, created by Daisy
Makeig-Jones, has proved enduringly popular. Ever since Una des Fontaines produced
her book on this particular type of ware in 1975, Fairyland lustre has been subject to a collecting demand that shows no signs of abating. Popular on both sides of the Atlantic and, like most British ceramics, in many of the Commonwealth countries, Fairyland was produced in sufficient quantity over its 15-year run to be collectable, but not in such volume as to be commonplace. It was expensive even when first produced because the lustre glazes were technically complex. As a result, values keep rising. There was a particularly good
illustration of this phenomenon earlier this month in the first of Bonhams' (20/12% buyer’s premium) biannual sales of Ceramic Design held in their New Bond Street rooms on March 16. With 26 pieces, this sale offered a particularly large selection of Fairyland, not from one source but, as Bonhams’ Mark Oliver
Above: 9in (23cm) high covered Fairyland lustre vase featuring the Butterfly Women pattern, a design not hitherto recorded on this shape. It sold for £16,000 in Bonhams' March 16 sale of Ceramic Design. Right: a prototype Fairyland lustre Elfin Palace plaque, £20,000. Above right: an 8in (20cm) diameter octagonal bowl decorated with the Moorish and Smoke Ribbons patterns, £4000.
explained, from half a dozen different consignors who all happened to bring things in since the previous auction. The critical mass proved key,
attracting a group of around eight to ten determined bidders – a mix of UK and overseas, from the US and those
Commonwealth countries. With the room and absentee bidders contesting the material keenly, all bar one lot sold to provide six of the day’s ten highest prices. In fact, the £156,150 chalked up by these 26 lots accounted for a quarter of the entire £650,000 total and went a long
Not a Longwy to go for £2200
THE most eagerly competed lot in the recent Kensington Sale conducted by online saleroom Auction Atrium (20% buyer’s premium) was this pair of 11in (27cm) high Longwy pottery vases. They were consigned by a local collector editing down a large collection of art pottery primarily formed during the 1970s and 1980s. Fashioned in the Japoniste taste c.1880, the raised decoration to the vases
includes pink and black enamelled flying and roosting cranes within rocky watery landscapes while the stands (a major selling factor) comprise turquoise elephant heads. They were in good condition, save some typical crazing. They carried both painted and impressed factory marks to bases that
included an 18-year-old price label from a London dealer for £275. As the majority of Longwy collectors are based in France, it was predictable
Above: Longwy vases, £2200 at Auction Atrium.
that most bidding as the sale closed on March 23 came from the continent. However, the real surprise, apart from the £2200 (estimate £250-350) result, was that the vases were finally purchased by West Midlands buyer.
way towards helping the auctioneers to almost double their target for this event. While Fairyland lustre has long been
on a roll, there is a pecking order to prices which makes some material more desirable than others. Many enthusiasts with established collections have already stocked up on the more common patterns. Like much other decorative pottery of this era, what appeals most is the rare pattern, unusual colourways or the possibility of acquiring an experimental or trial piece. This sale offered something that ticked
many of those boxes. Pictured in our preview of this sale
in ATG No 1980 and above was a 10½ x 7½in (27 x 19.5cm) prototype Elfin Palace plaque which was distinguished by certain technical innovations. Instead of being first printed with a design and then overpainted and lustred, here the procedure was reversed. Moreover, a prepared gold powder mix known as ‘wet gold’ was applied as an additional colour.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68