Earthenware trough by Constance Spry, £5500 at Bellmans.
It carries an impressed mark with the Spry signature and the name of the retailer Flower Decorations Ltd. A rare form, it took £5500 (estimate £400-600) to lead the February 19-21 auction at Bellmans (25% buyer’s premium) in Billingshurst.
Earthenware trough by Constance Spry, £5500 at Bellmans.
Remarkable return to form
In commercial terms, these biscuit-fired wares (many of them designed by Spry’s art assistant Florence Standfast) have shown a remarkable return to form in the past decade. They are keenly sought after by decorators and Spry devotees.
Pieces from the collection owned by author and mid-century design specialist Andrew Weaving that formed part of the exhibition Constance Spry and the Fashion for Flowers at the Garden Museum were offered by South London saleroom Roseberys in September 2022.
A Crown and Lion vase, created with the stage designer Oliver Messel (1904-78) for the coronations of George VI and Elizabeth II, took a record £10,000 (see ATG No 2560).
