Staffordshire

Staffordshire flatback figures have been off the boil for a while.

Schmidt’s Antiques’ next ceramics auction in Ypsilanti, Michigan, will be on June 6 and features a wide range of English and Continental pottery and porcelain from Britain, Continental Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Staffordshire blue and white ware, figures and Leeds creamware will be among a selection of English ceramics featured in Maison Jules’ large mixed-discipline auction of art, antiques and vintage items to be held online over three days from May 16-18 in Gent, Belgium.

A good range of 18th and 19th century English ceramics is included in Skinner’s February 14 sale of European furniture and decorative arts in Boston.

A sizeable helping of English and Continental ceramics featured in the large auction titled Mario Buatta: Prince of Interiors held by Sotheby’s New York (25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium).

In preparation for the 25th anniversary of the Staffordshire Figure Association (SFA) in 2020, its 60 members worldwide are, for the first time, receiving a wall calendar.

Another of the highest prices in the Stair Galleries’ sale of a New York ceramics collection came for this Staffordshire rarity.

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

The sale of two great collections at auction – one in London, the other in New York – has highlighted the ebbs and flows of the market for early British pottery and furniture.

Three lots selling for multi-estimate sums at regional auctions in the UK including a Staffordshire slipware honey pot from c.1700 that drew demand at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury.

Pictured here are three pieces from the Pelham Olive collection sold by Bonhams on January 31. Two are early English delft and are prize examples because they are inscribed and dated. The third is an example of Staffordshire slipware.

MADAM – Re: letters in ATG about sticky labels.

MADAM – I write this letter with three separate hats on but, in all three cases, addressed for the attention or our many auction houses.

Riots broke out in Bury and Blackburn in May 1878 as cotton mill workers protested their low wages. The initially peaceful action escalated as employees attacked the factory and local constabulary, eventually looting and destroying the mill owner’s house.

Last week’s review of a recently published ebook on a Dallas collection of early English pottery included an image of a pair of figures of the famous bare-knuckle pugilists Thomas Cribb and Thomas Molineux.

MADAM – I am an artist and a restorer and have been working with broken Staffordshire figurines for some time now – re-inventing and giving them a new lease of life.

This unusual Staffordshire figure of Billy Walters, c.1820, by Enoch Wood was among the pieces sold at the recent Chelsea Antiques, Art & Design Fair (March 15-19).