Decorative arts and ceramics in strong demand in Somerset
An international roll call of decorative arts and ceramics provided strong demand among bidders at a Somerset auction house’s recent sale, with items produced as far apart as Cornwall and the Far East going under the hammer.
Some of the highlights of the sale at Lawrences Auctioneers included:
- a fine collection of distinctive Cornish `Troika` pottery, which sold well and totalled £5970. One of the highest prices was the £570 paid for a trio of cube vases
- from Yorkshire, an oak refectory table and eight chairs by Robert `Mouseman` Thompson of Kilburn in Yorkshire met with keen bidding and totalled £8050
- a bottle-shaped stoneware ewer, decorated with grotesque fish, by the Martin Brothers of Southall dated from 1888 and made £1830.
Elsewhere in the sale, a pair of Bohemian glass goblets and covers of an amber hue made £1340.
Most of the other top prices were for items of Asian origin, such as:
- a Chinese export blue and white service of over 60 pieces made £2560
- a Chinese scroll painting showing a cat and two kittens (possibly early 17th Century) made £3660
- a Chinese bronze ruyi sceptre made £4270.
The star lots of the day was a Japanese Kakiemon School scroll painting, ascribed to Kawanabe Kyosai, and depicting cats in a landscape amongst flowers foliage and birds. Measuring 35 x 240cm (14 x 94 ins), it made £29,200.
