New world record for Moorcroft vase
A sought-after Moorcroft Flambé Carp vase, circa 1914, set a new world record for a vase by the maker when it sold for £31,500.
The piece took the spotlight at Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis recent sale when it returned to the auction house where it had been earlier sold in 2012 as part of The Ken Manley Collection of Moorcroft Pottery.
The world record-breaking ‘Flambé Carp’ vase, circa 1914, designed by William Moorcroft (1872-1945), smashed its own previous record, when it returned to auction. The extraordinary example of Art Nouveau design and Arts and Crafts craftsmanship last made headlines in 2012, when, as part of The Ken Manley Collection of Moorcroft Pottery it sold at Woolley and Wallis for a world auction record price for a Moorcroft vase, (£26,840). The vase proved highly popular today, with competitive bidding from around the globe. It finally won out to a private collector in the UK for £31,500.
The sale came at a poignant time, with the Moorcroft factory, which faced closure after 112 years, was saved by the grandson of its founder, William Moorcroft (1872-1945). Michael Jeffery, Woolley and Wallis’s 20th Century Design specialist, who handled the record-setting 2012 sale said about today’s result: “I am very pleased to have broken my own World record for a Moorcroft vase, particularly at this poignant time for the factory, workers and collectors. With the good news that the factory has been saved the collectors bid with renewed confidence. Both Carp vases will stay together having been purchased by a UK collector.”
The vase was originally produced at James Macintyre & Co. where William Moorcroft began his career in the 1890s and is a prime example of his early experimentation with rich flambé glazes. It was formerly part of the celebrated Ken Manley Collection and when auctioned, collectors fought hard to own it, with John McGhie the winner on the day. It is decorated with three carp fish swimming around the double gourd shaped vase, freely painted with liquid slip in a technique Moorcroft mastered, (called tubelining). The vase is then glazed in colours and finished with a vivid flambé glaze adding a fiery red appearance.
The same UK collector purchased a similar Moorcroft ‘Carp’ design vase in the sale, that was decorated in blues and greens, rather than in flambé reds. Dating from the same period as the record-breaking vase, the fish are more contained by a border of waterweed and the swollen neck is finished with three scallop shells. Another exceptional example of Moorcroft craftsmanship, it sold for £25,200 against an estimate of £6,000-£10,000.
Trained at the Royal College of Art and deeply influenced by William Morris, William Moorcroft joined Macintyre’s in 1897 and within a year revolutionised their ceramic production with his Florian Ware, debuting to international acclaim at the Paris World’s Fair. His innovative use of slip-trailing (tube-lining) and vivid enamels led to early commissions from luxury retailers including Harrods, Liberty of London, Rouard of Paris, and Tiffany & Co.
In 1898, Moorcroft was promoted to head Macintyre’s Ornamental Ware department, where he developed iconic designs that embodied the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement: craftsmanship, nature, and authenticity. Following Macintyre’s closure of its Art Pottery arm in 1912, Moorcroft founded his own studio in 1913 with the backing of Liberty, cementing a legacy that endured for over a century.
The auction today demonstrated the true and enduring appeal of Moorcroft pottery and with the saviour of the Moorcroft factory, we are sure that it will continue to remain highly coveted by collectors around the world.