George Owen Royal Worcester finialled covered vase, shape 871, sold for Aus$25,000 (£12,955) at Leonard Joel.
Among the products of this factory most admired and collected - and often making the most money these days - are the delicate double-walled reticulated pieces meticulously hand-made by the factory artist George Owen (1845-1912).
These pieces are often small in scale, finely pierced with a signature honeycomb pattern highlighted with gilding.
Persian inspiration
Owen’s work accounted for several of the top prices in the Leonard Joel auction.
Selling for a mid-estimate Aus$25,000 (£12,955) was a 9in (23cm) high finialled covered vase, shape 871, with Persian-inspired pierced decoration to the neck and cover.
It had a date cypher for 1919, a G Owen signature incised to the underside together with a gilt factory mark and the shape number.
Two other top prices were obtained for two identical-looking 6½in (16.5cm) high ovoid baluster reticulated vases in shape 2256.
One, with a date cypher for 1908 signed G Owen 1907, made Aus$15,000 (£7770) and the other, signed G Owen and with a rubbed date cypher dated to c.1912, realised Aus$20,000 (£10,362).
Top price of the sale was the Aus$26,000 (£13,470) paid for a pair of 16in (41cm) high vases dated 1871-2 painted with reserves of classical scenes by Josiah Rushton.
