Ceramics

A private collection of more than 30 pieces of Pilkington’s Lancastrian lustre excelled when offered at Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on October 10.

If the work of the best modern and contemporary artists is typically confined to a small coterie of London auctioneers, then the same cannot be said of the best modern and contemporary ceramics.

ATG's timeline of the studio pottery movement from Paul Gauguin's early productions to the major sales taking place in 2017-18.

In 1997, the year Kate Malone (b.1959) graduated from the Royal College of Arts, Knightsbridge-based Adrian Sassoon showed her work at The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar.

The new catalogue White Gold, produced by Brian Haughton and colleague Paul Crane, includes the fine 18th and 19th century material for which Haughton has made his worldwide reputation.

Born in Paris, now based in Falmouth, Michel François trained as a sculptor but switched to ceramics, becoming artist in residence at the Bernard Leach Studio.

British studio pottery, once the preserve of a small number of devotees, currently ranks among the strongest subsets of the art and antiques market. In the first element of a two-part feature, ATG considers the London market.

They won’t show it on the rostrum and probably not with clients but auction house professionals do have a likeness for particular artists.

The profile of Scottish potter Jennifer Lee (b. 1956) received a £50,000 boost at the Royal Centre for Design in Kensington this summer when she won the Loewe Craft Prize 2018 with her abstract stoneware vessel illustrated here.

The ‘British’ studio ceramics movement has long been backed by overseas talent. In addition to Lucie Rie, Hans Coper and Ruth Duckworth (nee Windmuller), who fled the Nazis in the 1930s, and Hamada Shoji’s collaboration with Bernard Leach, is the contribution of Kenyan-born Magdalene Odundo (b. 1950).

Proof of a burgeoning market, a series of stellar results for British studio pottery were posted at the ‘Made in Britain’ sale conducted by Sotheby’s on Bond Street.

The Northern Antiques Fair, an annual Harrogate event, is a chance for connoisseur buyers in the north to shop a little closer to home.

This rare pair of Minton majolica hen and rooster vases priced at £16,675 on the stand of Madelena will be among the highlights of the Arley Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair in Cheshire which runs from September 28-30.

Organised by specialist dealer Mark van Veen for the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society, the annual tile fair will be held on Saturday, October 6, in Nottingham at St Jude’s Church, Mapperley.

Two Worcester ‘Limoges’ chalices were the star lots at Stourbridge auction house Fieldings (21% buyer’s premium).