Dry-bodied and felspathic stonewares and Davenport pottery were the main collecting threads, underpinned by smaller selections of typical early pottery and 18th century Worcester, a few lots from later porcelain factories such as Derby, Spode and Daniel and some later biscuit wares. As with the Stretton material, there was also a fair degree of damage.
Neither the dry-bodied wares nor the Davenport could be described as the cutting edge of fashionable ceramic collecting, indeed there was a pleasantly old-fashioned feel to the whole assemblage which had been built up over 30 years by the late Mr Hacking, a Blackburn man who worked in in the field of commercial gardening. It combined ideal fodder for stock-hungry dealers keen to find pieces for the upcoming spring fairs with elements for more specialist collectors and this was reflected in the auctioneers’ approach to the property. They divided the collection so that there were plenty of lots with multiple entries, and some more unusual items singled out to be offered on their own. And they held the sale at their second London rooms in Bayswater but with its own well-illustrated catalogue. In total 250 lots went under the hammer with 86 per cent of them changing hands to net £62,455.
Leading the day at £2000 was the mid 18th century 9in (23cm) diameter saltglaze plate plate (top right), painted with a bust length portrait of Charles Edward Stuart, initialled P and C and framed by a multi-coloured laurel wreath (with a restored break to its press-moulded border). But this rarity of Jacobite interest was not typical of the collection either in terms of price or content.
A more characteristic offering would be the c.1815 Davenport stone china pot pourri vase cover and liner decorated in ‘Japan’ colours and a similar c.1850 example in porcelain (with a restored rim and cover) also illustrated, that made £1000.
Overall it was the Davenport section of the sale that proved the most difficult and saw the highest proportion of unsolds. However, the factory’s creamware and pearlware pieces, finely painted with botanical specimens proved popular and all sold while a two handled-tureen decorated with ornithological specimens raised a double estimate £1700, the second highest price of the auction.
Traditional eclecticism with specialist threads
Ceramics – The Jack Hacking Collection UK: THE JACK Hacking collection of English ceramics, offered by Phillips’ Bayswater (15/10 per cent buyer’s premium) rooms back on January 23, was a less academic, more eclectic property than Norman Stretton’s. But it was not by any means a general collection since it had quite specific areas of interest.
