Royal Worcester vase painted by Charles Baldwyn, £11,500 at Cromwells.
It was signed C [harles] Baldwyn and date coded for 1901, by which time Baldwyn (1859-1913) had achieved worldwide fame with his signature subject of swans in flight.
Indeed, the factory registered his designs to try to thwart copyists from as far away as Japan and the US.
The three puppies on the front of this 16in (41cm) tall vase and a single one to the reverse were a very rare and desirable subject.
The buyer, a serious UK collector, may have entertained some hopes of winning it closer to the £1000-1500 estimate at the at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, sale on May 17, but there were two equally informed rivals and he secured it at £11,500.
