The two-handled vase, with typical mask and foliate relief moulded decoration, had some damage to the small cover and some of the gilding around the lower rim was rubbed, but it was large at 16 1/2in (42cm) high and, of course, unusual. It sold to an overseas telephone bid at £8000.
On March 16, the same buyer in the same rooms had tendered the winning £4700 for a Royal Worcester ewer by John Stinton, this standing 14in (35cm) high and more typically decorated with Highland cattle.
A SIMILAR scene, this time painted by Harry Stinton (the son of John Jnr and nephew of James), was seen on the 9in (22cm) high vase, bottom right, which topped the sale held by Rendells (10% buyer’s premium) of Ashburton on March 18-19. It sold to a Midlands phone bidder above estimate at £2000.
ANOTHER Royal Worcester artist decorated ware is a vase, painted with sheep by Harry Davis, which took £3100 at Marilyn Swain (15% buyer’s premium) of Grantham on April 7.
For 71 of his 84 years Davis (1885-1969) worked as a decorator at the Royal Worcester factory – and climbing to the post of foreman painter demanded excellence in a wide variety of subjects. He is most famous for his sheep-decorated wares, all produced within the first quarter of the 20th century. This piece, a squat baluster form standing 5in (13cm) high, was sold to an English dealer against underbidding from an Australian collector.
A researcher bid £1150 (estimate £300-500) for the most unusual mahogany box containing 45 samples of the ingredients that make up Tunbridge Ware. Each of the wooden cubes was numbered and corresponded to a printed sheet, titled for the well-known Tunbridgeware maker Edward Nye, listing name, country of origin and use of each type of timber.
Baldwin, Stinton & Davis
CHARLES Baldwin’s stock-in-trade as a porcelain artist was swans in flight, but the celebrated Royal Worcester painter did occasionally apply his meticulous technique to other subjects including mammals and other birds. The sale held by Philip Laney (10% buyer’s premium) at the Malvern Auction Centre on April 6 included the impressive vase, top right, decorated by Baldwin with goldfinches.
