A Chinese Brick Helps to Build a Great Sale...
18th October 2018
Our sale of Decorative Arts and Ceramics on October 11th recorded many strong prices but, predictably, top honours went to items from Asia.
An unusual plaque by the Royal Doulton artist Hannah Barlow depicted a kangaroo and a joey and put a spring in the sale by making £2310. A rare archive of letters by the distinguished potter Bernard Leach (1887-1979) saw eager bids up to £4140. This was purchased by the Crafts Study Centre at Farnham in Surrey who were delighted to add the lot to their existing archive of Leach’s papers. A well-documented English white glass candlestick, made in c.1760 in Bristol or Staffordshire, had impeccable provenance and was bought for £2680.
Within the wide selection of Oriental items on offer, a Chinese blue and white Yen Yen vase, probably Kangxi, made £3290 but, perhaps more unusually, a single brick from the Great Wall of China – presented by the Rotary Club of Shanghai to the Rotary Club in Bristol in 1929 – was sold with its original 1929 packing case and made £2070, a little above its estimate once again.
