This graduated pair of Staffordshire shaped oval meat platters are printed in green with scenes from the rare and desirable ‘Arctic Scenery’ series.
Although the maker of these pieces is unknown, Coysh and
Henrywood's Dictionary of Blue and White Printed Pottery
1780-1880 attribute the source of many of these arctic
views (nine are recorded in total) to John Franklin's Narrative
of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the years 1819 to
1822, published in 1823.
The animal portraits to the borders, including big cats and
humming birds, are less than typical polar species but impressive
nonetheless.
Such is the desirability of this pattern, particularly among
collectors of polar exploration material, that four phone bidders
competed this pair well when they were offered by
Richard Winterton (15% buyer's premium) in Lichfield on January
7, and they were taken above the £80-120 estimate that would have
more than sufficed for two more typical transfer printed
dishes.
A UK bidder eventually secured them at £1450.
This sale, held against the backdrop of snowbound Britain, was
also notable for the small collection of Mouseman furniture
consigned by St Joseph's Convent near Tamworth, where they had
resided since the early 1930s. As detailed on the front page of
last week's issue, enthusiastic bidding took the seven lots to
£25,000.
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