Staffordshire

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

Concept drawings by John Orfe (1922-2011), an American automotive and airline designer, came for sale in Virginia.

Vendor finds glass marbles are worth more than expected as they make surprise four-figure sums in Bury St Edmunds

Estimated at just £50-80, a rare Staffordshire figure group sold online for £3000 at Clarke’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Semley, Dorset, on February 10.

This monumental and documentary Staffordshire blue and white transfer printed jug sold for $4800 (£4000) as part of Bonhams Skinner’s sale of British pottery and porcelain that ran online from Marlborough, Massachusetts, in the last days of 2022.

Collectors of Staffordshire have noted a number of higher prices of late and further evidence of a more active market came when a pair of Victorian Staffordshire flatback figures was offered by Lacy, Scott & Knight (22.5% buyer’s premium).

Dealer Damon Revans-Turner of RTS Antiques in Liverpool has put a name and story to a rare Staffordshire figure that has hitherto evaded attribution.

Hot on the heels of Christie’s offering a collection of more than 80 18th century Battersea and Bilston enamels formed by interwar connoisseur Nellie Ionides (part of the May 27 auction of items from the estate of Lord and Lady Swaythling), Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) featured a smaller selection of similar wares across two sales in the summer.

The Crimean War inspired many Staffordshire flatback figures - including this rare model made to mark the end of the conflict in 1856.

Grisly figures burning at the stake reflected religious background of Staffordshire potters

Special look at the cross-over market for coronation and commemorative items

As a general rule prices for most pairs of Staffordshire dogs, the quintessential Victorian fireside ornament, have dipped markedly in the past generation.

Traditional collecting fields still have an attraction when estimates are realistic, as proved by 18th century porcelain and pottery auctioned in the US

Here we speak to dealer John Howard who specialises in British pottery.

Rarely do 19th century Staffordshire figures feature among the top-selling lots at auction these days but two bare-fist boxing champions did just that.

Amassed by the headmaster of one of Britain’s finest public schools, the Silk collection of Staffordshire portrait figures provides a fillip to an overlooked market

While the kilns at Sèvres languished during the Revolution, Napoleon recognised the value of a national porcelain factory and used it as an extension of his power.

At a recent sale at Stamford Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium) in Lincolnshire this pair of mid-19th century Staffordshire red squirrels sold for a surprise £2000.

A pair of early 19th century Staffordshire pearlware figures modelled after bare-knuckle boxers Tom Cribb and Tom Molineaux who fought for a ‘world title’ of sorts is estimated at £3000-5000 in Tennants’ Autumn Fine Sale on November 13 in Leyburn.

The Robin Simpson (1940-2020) collection of British commemorative ceramics comes for sale next month.