It was the usual wide-ranging
selection covering most of the 18th century English porcelain factories, plenty of 19th century wares including Royal Worcester and majolica and a selection of early Staffordshire pottery. This last category yielded one of the day’s highest prices – the £10,000 paid for this pair of 8in (20cm) high, mid-18th century naturalistically coloured, lead-glazed Astbury-type figures of dragoons. The pair was formerly in the Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection sold by Sotheby’s in 1980 and subsequently in the London pottery dealer Jonathan Horne’s selling
exhibition of 1984. The price was at the lower end of their £10,000-14,000 estimate, reflecting the fact that while rare pieces, they had a fair degree of restoration.
Astbury-type dragoons make £10,000
Ceramics: November/December saw a whole slew of ceramics sales take place in the London rooms either devoted entirely to British or to Continental material or a mix of the two. One of the last to take place was Bonhams’ indigenous selection offered in their Bond Street rooms on December 11.
