Clevedon Salerooms held their latest Quarterly Specialist Sale on Thursday 13th March at the Kenn Road Auction Centre. Amongst over 520 lots on offer, the star of the sale was a porcelain bowl by celebrated Austrian-born studio potter Dame Lucie Rie (1902-1995).
Once a relatively niche collecting area, the best British post-war ceramics now attract the attention of some of the biggest buyers in the modern design field. Rie is widely regarded as the doyenne of the British studio pottery movement and the market for her artworks have gone from strength to strength in recent years.
The footed porcelain bowl dated from the mid-1980s - the designer’s prime period when she displayed mastery of both form and glaze – and had been consigned by the family of a private collector. Purchased in the early 1990s from Galerie Besson, the glaze had obscured the potter’s seal. This did little to deter bidders; a slew of commission bids, five telephone lines as well as healthy interest online, saw its estimate quickly exceeded with the winning bidder, from the London trade, securing the bowl for a remarkable £26,000.
That was the high-water mark amongst a day of consistently high prices. Amongst a strong collection of bronzes, it was a patinated bronze maquette attributed to Lord Frederic Leighton, PRA, RWS, (1830-1896) 'An Athlete Wrestling A Python', that really hit the high note. Measuring 24cm high, and one of the best known works by the influential Victorian artist, it had been consigned by a Bristol family. The source of much pre-sale anticipation, it attracted strong online and telephone competition, selling for £11,000, also to the London trade.
Elsewhere in the sale, Watches enjoyed a particularly strong performance where, as ever, it was the magic name Rolex that got the bidders’ attention. Top price was for a Rolex, gentleman's GMT Master II Superlative Chronometer, which sold for £7,800, whilst a Submariner two-tone stainless steel bracelet watch sold for £6,200, just ahead of an Oyster Perpetual Date Submariner stainless steel bracelet watch which sold for £6,000. Amongst Jewellery all the signs were that diamonds continue to be a girl’s best friend. A Victorian 18ct yellow gold and silver ring set five graduated old cut diamonds, sold for £2,800, an Art Deco unmarked white metal ring, the round brilliant cut diamond weighing approx 1.40 carats, sold for £2,400, and an 18ct gold and platinum set three stone diamond ring sold for £2,200.
A small collection of Chinese jade set pulses racing in the Asian art section. Arriving on one of Clevedon’s ever popular Monday Valuation days, a large Chinese celadon jade 'Chrysanthemum' dish was accompanied by a small dish and twin-handled cup. Sold as three consecutive lots, this choice trio sold for a combined figure of £5,400.
Items with a local connection invariably strike a chord with bidders. An oil on board by Clevedon’s own Doris Hatt (1890-1969),‘The Forge, Swiss Valley, Clevedon with Walton Castle beyond’, monogrammed and dated (19) 61 had arrived via a Clevedon’s online valuation service. Following in the wake of our record-breaking result for a Doris Hatt oil painting (which sold at Clevedon in 2024) hopes were certainly high and they were not to be disappointed as it more than doubled its lower estimate, selling for £4,500.
Another item with a close local connection was a rare late 19th century Bristol Muller Orphanage sampler. Worked in characteristic red silks on a cream ground it had everything collectors of these highly desirable samplers look for and it sold for a very respectable £2,400. Also scoring highly in the Collectables section, a group of three guauge-1 models of steam locomotives by Aster Hobby for Fulgurex , including everyone’s streamlined favourite ‘Mallard’ and another in the same family ‘Silver Link’, the latter resplendent in metallic silver livery. Hotly contested, each left their estimate standing in the station, selling for a combined total of £6,500.
More contemporary tastes were also well-catered for; ‘Gale Force Nun’, a limited edition cast bronze figure by Philip Jackson (Scottish, b.1944), did extremely well, selling for £4,600, whilst another Lucie Rie bowl from the same source as the first sold for £6,000.
Finally, what home home, either modern or traditional would be complete without a full-scale replica Dalek? The sale included one modelled on those which appeared on the big screen in the 1960s. Complete with remote voice control with which the evil pepperpot could be made to shriek ‘Exterminate!’ amongst other admonitions, the lure of owning a unique conversation piece proved too much for one local buyer who was delighted to secure it for £1,400. With Easter just around the corner, Clevedon Salerooms are looking forward to a busy Spring, with Interiors sales on April 3rd and 24th and May 15th alongside weekly Monday valuations at the Saleroom and Bristol valuations at Stoke Lodge on April 15th and May 27th, together with weekly valuations at the salerooms. For more information, please see the website.