Decorative Art

The 18th annual sale presented by Perfume Bottles Auction (20/25% buyer’s premium) took place on May 2. The online auction, conducted in New York by Ken Leach, served as the finale of the 2026 convention of the International Perfume Bottle Association (IFBA).

In 1862, just a year after the founding of the Morris, Marshall & Faulkner Company at Red Lion Square, a circular was sent to prospective clients to announce the ‘revival of the art of painting on china tiles’.

A pair of William De Morgan ruby lustre four tile panels, each measuring 2ft 4in x 8in (70 x 19cm) and depicting galleons in full sail with fish swimming in sea, sold on the top estimate of £6000 at Martel Maides (20% buyer’s premium) in St Peter Port, Guernsey, on June 11.

New England Auctions – Fred Giampietro (26% buyer’s premium) of Branford, Connecticut, continues to win big with leech jars from the collection of the late Dr Jerry Phelps (1935-2025), an anesthesiologist from Kentucky.

Two small single-owner collections of Martin Brothers stoneware were offered in June: one at Catherine Southon (27.6% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Chislehurst, Kent, on June 17, the other as part of the Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) June 25 sale in Sherborne, Dorset.

Items from the collection of architect Christopher Smallwood (1937-2024) were offered for sale at Dreweatts on May 13.

A triple-faced owl vase by the Zsolnay factory hammered for $9000 (£6610) at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium).

Exhibitors selling to other traders, alongside decorators and private buyers, is a key feature of The Decorative Fair in Battersea.

Items associated with the White Star Line, the British shipping company that built its global brand on unmatched passenger comfort, continue to thrive at auction.

Banker and businessman Jörg Woltmann, who rescued the Berlin porcelain manufacturer, now also acquires a huge vase by the firm.

Each June, a familiar circuit of selling exhibitions draws collectors, dealers and specialists in porcelain and ceramics to London.

The French sculptor Paul Comolera (1818-1897) first appears in the Minton records in October 1873 and is listed until 1876. During this short time, he created some of Minton’s greatest models of animals which were often observed from life.

This early 20th century Russian silver and cloisonné enamel pill box measuring just 1½in (3.5cm) across bears marks for Fabergé and Feodor Ruckert (1840-1917).

Henry Piddington (1797-1858) was an English sea captain who sailed mostly in East India and China.

Two very different pieces of glass went way over the odds at a specialist sale at Dr Fischer (30% buyer’s premium) in Heilbronn.

Two impressive vases from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg took top honours at the sale held by Auktionshaus OWL (27% buyer’s premium) on May 16 in Bad Driburg in North-Rhine-Westfalia.