Decorative Art

A selection of silver lots coming up in the salerooms.

It was decades after the First Fleet landed in Sydney cove in 1788 before anything like a recognisable silver trade developed in Australia, writes Jolyon Warwick James.

Jeffrey Lassaline has joined Tennants as silver and objects of vertu specialist.

A 9in (22cm) high Lalique clear and green glass bowl in the Gui (Mistletoe) pattern will feature in the sale to be held by Woody Auction in Douglass, Kansas, on September 7.

‘One-of-a-kind’ tubelined charger by Staffordshire ceramicist brings £3300 on local soil.

In this group of predominantly Victorian ceramics beloware two 18th century pieces: a typical polychrome delft plate of modest value and a far more commercial early English toby jug.

Clock produced by Englishman influential in French horology impresses in Norfolk auction.

Although catalogued as ‘Continental’, this mid-19th century porcelain figure of a seated semi-nude ballet dancer below carries impressed marks for the factory established by the English entrepreneur Francis Gardner in the town of Verbilki near Moscow in 1766.

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

Not always predicted but overwhelming when it comes, big-money Russian interest sent a bronze equine group soaring at Dawson’s (23% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead.

Michael Wilson of Highland Antiques in Aberdeen specialises in rare and collectable antique silver.

When auctioneer Tony Pratt spotted a mysterious shape in the undergrowth of a back garden in Hythe he wasn’t expecting to uncover a very large pottery bear.

Wick Antiques has on offer a monumental silver-gilt cup and cover presented to Ralph Fletcher (1757-1832), who is remembered for his actions during the ‘Peterloo Massacre’.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.

Metalware in all its forms played a major part in the development of the Bauhaus and recent sales contained examples in every price range.

One of the offshoots of the Bauhaus was the ceramic factory in Velten-Vordamm, just north of Berlin. Much of the stoneware designed by the ceramic artists at the school was executed there, several examples of which came up for sale at Quittenbaum.

An exceptional example of Thai silversmithing has sold for £13,500 (plus 17.5% buyer’s premium) in Leicestershire.