Ceramics

William De Morgan considered pieces from the Moonlight and Sunset Suite made in the early 1890s to be his very best work.

After the James Macintyre & Co factory was awarded a gold medal at the St Louis International Exhibition in 1904, Moorcroft pottery was sold in the US by a number of boutique retailers including Shreve & Co of San Francisco and Tiffany in New York.

A pair of early 19th century Staffordshire pearlware figures modelled after bare-knuckle boxers Tom Cribb and Tom Molineaux who fought for a ‘world title’ of sorts is estimated at £3000-5000 in Tennants’ Autumn Fine Sale on November 13 in Leyburn.

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

It was not to high-end purist tastes, but ballet pioneer’s collection reeled in eager bidders

Andrew Muir bought his first piece of Clarice Cliff – a small and damaged candlestick – for £25 from a pub auction in 1989. Today he is an established dealer in 20th century ceramics and is showing his diverse stock at the latest edition of the Winter Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia (November 2-7).

This earthenware charger was painted by Catherine Sparkes (1842-1910), a genre, flower painter and illustrator who made a significant contribution to the development of faience pottery at Doulton Lambeth.

It is with great sadness that I was informed of the sudden death of my good friend and colleague in the trade Roger de Ville… thankfully he was at home and he passed away quickly at the amazing age of 86 years old.

The studio pottery collection of the late US dealer Dr John Driscoll will be offered at Phillips in conjunction with specialist Maak.

Including seafaring, tin, copper, studio potteries and fishing, a Penzance sale covered just about everything from the region bar pasties.

An extremely rare and early Italian maiolica dish, discovered broken in pieces in a drawer, was hammered down at just over £1m at Lyon & Turnbull.

With reference to the article headed ‘Derby duo ready for research’ in Auction Reports, ATG No 2509, referral to WD John’s William Billingsley 1758-1828 (1968) would seem to resolve the matter as to the artist and the lack of a Derby factory mark.

Adam and Eve charger takes top price in collection amassed by American couple

Anita Morgan, co-owner of The Hive in Cambridge, is an antique tile specialist and stands at the small annual niche tile fair in Nottingham organised by the Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society (TACS), which was held this year on October 2.

Auctioneer Will Farmer will move from the small to the big screen this autumn when he appears in a new feature film on the life of Clarice Cliff.

One of the largest selling exhibitions in recent years of 18th century Plymouth and Bristol porcelain is under way at London gallery Albert Amor in Bury Street.

Irish castle home of earls about to be turned into hotel and spa furnishes a remarkable sale