Decorative Art

The Doccia factory is perhaps best known for its hard-paste sculptures – many of them near-direct copies in porcelain of 17th and early 18th century bronzes. The key figure is the talented modeller Gaspero Bruschi, himself a Florentine sculptor.

MADAM – I read with great interest Roland Arkell’s feature on collecting work by the Martin Brothers (ATG No 2226). Roland cites three exhibitions which he states are “landmarks” but leaves out perhaps the most important.

Thieves in Chipping Campden have struck at the core of the Court Barn Museum’s collection of Arts & Crafts silver and jewellery.

The collection of Clarice Cliff formed by André Aerne, a voice professor at Butler University in the US who died last year, will be offered in an online sale at Christie’s this month.

Campaigners against ‘British’ hallmarking overseas have welcomed the launch of a consultation on the issue.

The interest in studio pottery goes beyond the premier names in the field. Three pieces by Waistel Cooper (1921-2003), a Scot who worked first in Porlock in Somerset and later from the Barbican Pottery in Penzance, generated plenty of bidding at Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19% buyer’s premium) July 6 sale in Taunton.

Despite their function, stirrup cups in the form of equine heads are a little harder to find than those of dogs and foxes.

August is traditionally the month when most of the auction world takes a breather. But in Scotland, where well-heeled holiday-makers tread, there is no let-up.

Leading the sale of Arts & Crafts at the Woolley & Wallis June 21 sale was the monumental Pilkington’s Lancastrian vase shown above, standing some 48cm (19in) high.

The Zettler Glass Manufactory was founded in Munich in 1870 by Francis Xavier Zettler (1841-1916) and his father-in-law Joseph Gabriel Mayer (1808-83) – two men who combined a deep religious conviction with a love of medieval culture.

It was, said specialist Michael Jeffery, “one of, if not the finest, collections of Burmantofts put together by a private individual”.

Two events organised by Brian and Anna Haughton featured among the busy programme of London events in June.

Held in Staffordshire this Saturday (July 15) is the annual Old Hall Collectors’ Club Fair.