Ravilious Wedgwood mug commands king’s ransom
A ceramic mug commemorating the coronation of King George VI went under the hammer for an incredible £13,500 at auction, after being stored in the vendor’s attic for over two decades.
A private collector bidding in the room at a Fine & Decorative Art sale at Gildings Auctioneers in Market Harborough, Leicestershire recently faced fierce competition online, but finally secured the mug for over 16 times its upper pre-sale estimate of £800.
The souvenir mug was designed by the prominent British artist Eric Ravilious for Wedgwood to commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. Adapted from a previous version intended to mark the coronation of King Edward VIII before he announced his abdication, its design features celebratory fireworks and the royal coat of arms.
The mug is a particularly rare example featuring a pale yellow lower band and green detailing from a collection of five of Ravilious’s 1937 Wedgwood coronation mugs which had sat undisturbed in a box in the seller’s loft since the late 1990s. Three of the mugs in more commonly seen but still sought-after turquoise, blue and pink-based colourways sold for £270, £360 and £2,700 respectively. Another blue version made for the planned coronation of Edward VIII fetched £480.
“We’re thrilled to achieve this astonishing result for this very special mug which although highly collectable, is still intrinsically just a mundane household item,” commented Gildings director Will Gilding. “We were unable to find any other examples of this particular colourway, which also has a slightly differently shaped rim to the other mugs in the sale, so this one may well be unique.
“As a result, we knew it had the potential to soar far beyond its guide price. But for the hammer to go down at £13,500 is truly remarkable and just goes to show the magic that can happen when two determined collectors identify a must-have treasure!”
Born in 1903, Eric Ravilious was a highly regarded Sussex-based painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He is best known for his modernist watercolour interpretations of English landscapes and World War II scenes, some of which are displayed in the Imperial War Museum in London.
In December 1939 Ravilious became an official World War II war artist with the rank of Honorary Captain in the Royal Marines. On September 2, 1942, he joined one of three aircrafts despatched on a search and rescue mission for a plane that had failed to return to RAF Kaldadarnes in Iceland the day before. The aircraft Ravilious boarded also failed to return, and he and the four-man crew were recorded as lost in action four days later, making him the first of three British war artists to die in active service during World War II.
“This vanishingly rare example of a striking design by a renowned artist who suffered a tragic wartime death was sold in very good condition given it’s age and ceramic nature,” added Will. “Such is the power of its scarcity, and the demand for works by Ravilious, this high quality but relatively inexpensive souvenir has taken on a previously unimagined value several decades later. When I brought the gavel down, I think everyone in the room felt like we needed a cup of tea to calm us all down – not least the buyer – but in a slightly more affordable mug!”