The hangar saleroom at Christie’s South Kensington was full to overflowing for the much-publicised sale of the Poole Pottery Museum collection and archive on March 31.
Enthusiasts for this distinctive British pottery clamoured to
buy a piece of its history. Bidders bought all but six of the 290
lots for a hammer total of £212,700, comfortably over the pre-sale
predictions of in excess of £180,000.
The audience was a mix of trade and private buyers, but in the
event the sale's main purchaser proved to be the Borough of Poole,
who carried off 66 lots, spending around £88,000 including
premium.
The borough came armed with an extensive shopping list and a
spending pot of over £100,000, raised from a mix of donations from
the general public, their own coffers and various grants and
purchase funds.
They were particularly keen to acquire documentary material such
as pattern books, designs and photographs, as well as key pieces of
historical importance to the pottery, such as the 3ft 1in x 4ft 3in
(93cm x 1.32m) tile panel depicting views of Poole, pictured
right.
Made c.1930 to a design by the artist Edward Bawden, the borough
went to £13,000 plus 19.5 per cent premium to secure it, making it
the most expensive piece in the sale.
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