Decorative Art

Serendipity had it that three early pieces of European pottery and glass – two of them dated – were offered for sale across a trio of English regional auctions in a matter of days in December.

A fine example of a dirk, without which no Highland formal dresswear is complete, was among the stand-out lots at Cuttlestones’ (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Penkridge on November 22.

Since 1994, the New York businessman Richard Baron Cohen has been a welcome guest at international auctions, fairs and dealers.

Glass specialists Liz and Mike Flatter will be first-time exhibitors at the IACF Shepton Mallet antiques and collectors’ fair at the Bath and West Showground on Friday to Sunday, January 18-20.

Arnold Pash (1928-2018), veteran silver dealer of A Pash & Son, passed away peacefully on December 6, 2018, at home surrounded by his family after battling cancer and ill health.

A new auction record for the idiosyncratic stonewares of the Martin brothers was established at Phillips’ Design sale in New York.

For 30 years the London lawyer David Cooper and his wife Marie devoted themselves to building a collection of Art Deco sculpture.

A rare Sampson Mordan gilt-mounted porcelain scent bottle features at the next Galloway Antiques Fair, which takes place at The Majestic Hotel in Harrogate from January 4-6.

A lavish Viennese gold-mounted porcelain tureen and stand – the epitome of Habsburg court luxury during the reign of the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI – topped Bonhams’ Fine European Ceramics sale in London on December 6.

Mark West deals in 18th, 19th and 20th century glass designed to be used. He will exhibit at The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair from January 10-13, 2019.

The second stock sale from the French ceramics specialist Christophe Perlès was held at Drouot by Pescheteau-Badin (26% buyer’s premium inc VAT) on November 26.

On the market for the first time in at least 60 years, and in some cases for more than a century, a small collection of 17th and 18th century silver accounted for a fraction of the lots but 20% of the total at the two-day winter sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries (24% buyer’s premium).

The bronze pieces produced by Rene Lalique are perhaps less well-known than the master’s jewellery and glass but seldom so under-rated that they are consigned to the dustbin, as was the case with this c.1910 hand mirror, below.

Very much a buyer’s market these days, English ceramics in their various forms are affordable to collectors on modest budgets.

It is 40 years since 19th century potlids were the collectables of choice but there is still a very active market for them.