Not everything in the collection was in perfect condition or made in the first quarter of the 20th century when the factory was at its most original.
However there were some very fine
small-scale pieces at Campsea Ashe, near Woodbridge – some are shown and priced right – and they were offered with sensible reserves.
According to Abbotts saleroom manager Geoffrey Barfoot, most of the more significant pieces went to private buyers.
Two Pomegranate pieces were particularly admired, a swept form vase decorated with five full fruit, 8in (20cm) high sold at £800 and a cylindrical vase of the same height decorated with a single fruit and mounted with a Tudric pewter rim and bases sold at £580.
Not all collectors appreciate the starker Arts and Crafts forms of the Flamminian range but a square section two-handled vase decorated with the familiar small foliate rounded to a pink ground, 5in (13cm) high, brought £700 while a similar compressed rectangular bowl, 12in (31cm) wide, made £300.
Another of the metal mounted wares, a small Moonlit Blue pattern bon bon dish, 4 1/2in (11.5cm) diameter, raised upon a plated stand went at £500 but it was an Eventide vase, a baluster form 7in (17cm) high decorated with brown and orange balloon trees to a pale ground, that led the group taking a bid of £1450.
All these prices were within estimate but the same cannot be said of a pair of Martin Brothers vases that followed.
Each of a slender form and decorated with sparrows, the 13 1/2in (34cm) vases (one repaired) made ten times expectations when they went at £1050.
Also something of a surprise was the performance of a Staffordshire flatback spill holder, 11in (28cm) high, although few could have expected to buy this unusual example modelled as a lioness her cub and an attendant snake coiled on a tree trunk at its £30-50 guidelines.
Indeed the auctioneers themselves seemed to have expected more. The vase was pulled out of general sale to be entered at the last minute as an ‘A’ lot and pictures were e-mailed to specialists – a move rewarded with a winning bid of £420.
Small size, vernacular charm and probably an 18th century date saw a pine longcase with a 6in (15cm) dial and a 30-hour striking movement leading the furniture session. Specialist bidding saw the clock stretch to £1700, way above its estimate of £200-300.
Moorcroft collection pulls in the fans
Pictured on the front cover of the 530-lot catalogue offered by Suffolk auctioneers Abbotts (10 per cent buyer’s premium) on March 12 was a group of Moorcroft pottery assembled by a Southwold collector over the past 25 years.
