Ceramics

On July 13 Boston saleroom Skinner will be offering the Victor & Muriel Polikoff Collection comprising nearly 300 lots of 18th and early 19th century ceramics.

A group of five 8in (20cm) William de Morgan (1839-1917) tiles drew lively competitive bids at Cuttlestones in Wolverhampton on June 8.

Figurative sculptor Christy Keeney from Donegal, Ireland, has been an exhibitor at the Earth and Fire International Ceramic Fair in Nottinghamshire for 16 of the 22 annual events held so far.

Earlier this year Woolley & Wallis decorative arts specialist Michael Jeffery received a call out of the blue from the family of a recently deceased collector in the south of England.

An early rare Lowestoft teapot and cover and a pair of 19th century glass marriage tankards from York are just two of the highlights at the third annual York Antiques, Decoratives & Fine Arts Fair.

Major dealers remain confident about the market for top-level English 18th century ceramics. At lower levels, however, the disappearance of so many dedicated collectors continues to take its toll.

The estate of prominent Jewish art collector Emma Budge has appealed for a rare early 18th century Meissen stoneware figure – the subject of a recent export stop – to be returned.

Ceramics items on offer in London this summer from auction houses and dealers.

Three substantial sales from Edinburgh to Exeter via Doncaster last month confirmed the promise of early spring with the staple areas of furniture, silver and ceramics holding up and, for named or specialist-interest material, doing well. The figures underline the overall buoyancy.

Two new dealer shows, Kensington – The Heart of Ceramics and A Collector’s Paradise, herald in this year’s high summer art season in London, while Ceramics Mayfair continues to delight in Kent

A regular selling show in the summer calendar is Ceramics Mayfair which has been going strong for 11 years and features the combined forces of Jupiter Antiques, Mark and Sandra Diamond and Catherine Hunt.

Shropshire auction of wares from short-lived ‘niche’ factory proves to be a good market test...

Inscriptions and/or dates add a premium in many classes of ceramics but especially so in delftware. Some afficionados such as the late Syd Levethan made this a particular goal for their collecting.

Woolley & Wallis holds one of its dedicated English and Continental ceramics auctions in Salisbury on May 23. The wide range of material on offer takes in everything from the major 18th and 19th century English porcelain factories to a group of Italian maiolica.

Following the glass and British ceramics auction, which takes place in Bonhams’ Knightsbridge rooms this week, the auction house holds its main European ceramics sale of the summer in New Bond Street on June 14.

Overshadowed by the boom in Chinese works and contemporary art they may have been, but the rise in demand for British studio ceramics has been the talk of the market these last few years.

Not so much in demand as they once were, Royal Doulton figurines still have their devoted following, particularly when they are rarities such as the Lady Jester (HN1222) piece offered at Michael J Bowman (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Chudleigh on March 25.

What Aylsham auction house Keys (20% buyer’s premium) considered one of the largest private collections of Lowestoft ever to come to market was a near sell-out on March 21.