Decorative Art

When he was only 20, the French sculptor Jules Moigniez exhibited one of his works at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855.

This opal, diamond, enamel and 18ct yellow gold choker, c.1898, is textbook René Lalique (1860-1945).

A trio of five-figure offerings got Salisbury auction house Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) off to a great start for 2020.

Highlight literally and metaphorically of the Woolley & Wallis sale on January 8 was a pair of ormolu and hardstone-mounted candelabra, superb in themselves and packed with French royal history.

This Doulton Lambeth terracotta plaque by George Tinworth will be included in the ceramics section of Skinner’s February 14 sale of European furniture and decorative arts in Boston.

It was during the Carter, Stabler and Adams period in the 1920s-30s that some of the most memorable Poole wares were produced. Much of this Art Deco range – red earthenwares covered in a white slip and a semi-matt-glaze before decoration in a variety of Jazz Age patterns – was based on the work of chief designer Truda Carter.

On January 30, Millea Bros of Boonton, New Jersey, will offer more than 400 lots of English and American furniture and decorative arts from the estate of Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Seeler (1926-2018).

A collection of Irish glass built in the 1930s by artist Jean (Musgrave) Jameson was topped by a pair of c.1800 flat-cut urns and covers Adam’s (23% buyer’s premium) of Dublin.

This 14in (35cm) earthenware ‘face’ charger made by Madoura to a design by Pablo Picasso carries an estimate of $2000-3000 at Neely Auction in Lantana, Florida, on February 16.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

The two-day sale at Case Antiques of Knoxville, Tennessee, on January 25-26 includes a number of Liverpool creamware jugs depicting a range of subject matter.

This 13in (32cm) Royal Worcester ewer decorated with owls by Charles Baldwyn (1859-1913) carries an estimate of $950-1050 at Broward Auction Gallery in Dania Beach, Florida.

The Homes & Interiors sale at Bonhams Los Angeles on February 3 includes this Sèvres flower vase or Cuvette à Fleurs Courteille, measuring 10¼in (26cm) wide, estimated at $4000-6000.

A pair of George III sauce tureens by Daniel Smith and Robert Sharp was among the early sales on the opening day of The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair.

Victorian silver novelties do not come much better than this claret jug, formed as a 9in (23cm) tall kneeling elephant by James Barclay Hennell, London 1881. The hinged head (currently lacking tusks) forms the cover.

This impressive and rare pair of silver table candlesticks with cluster columns, square bases and drip cups had no visible hallmarks but is probably Dutch and late 17th century in date.

Alongside pieces made in Kinsale, Galway and Waterford, silver from the small County Cork town of Youghal is among the scarcest of all Irish provincial silver. Only a handful of pieces survive that carry the punning town mark of a yawl.

The sale at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) in Cambridge on December 12 included a cache of Victorian and earlier silver from the collection of Delaval Astley, 23rd Baron Hastings (b.1960).

This small Gothic Revival beaker was made by ecclesiastical metal manufacturer John Hardman (Birmingham, 1848) at the height of the first partnership with AWN Pugin.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.