12th-15th June 2008
Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London W1
A Unique Opportunity to See and Buy the Very Best
“Ceramics fair abounds in rare quality pieces” Souren Melikian, International Herald Tribune
“Seriousness, not size, is what makes the Ceramics Fair the tops” David Moss, Antiques Trade Gazette
The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar returned to the Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, this year from the 12th-15th June, again bringing together 15 of the world’s leading dealers in the finest English and European pottery, porcelain and glass.
In the words of Jonathan Horne of Sampson & Horne, the fair has become - in the course of its 27year existence - like a club. He calls it “The International Ceramics Club” and firmly believes that without this annual event the extraordinary and highly important network the fair has created for dealers, academics and collectors would be irretrievably lost.
Exhibitors at the 2008 repeated the line-up in 2007: Bazaart (London); Dragesco-Cramoisan (Paris); Brian Haughton Gallery (London); Daniela Kumpf Kunstandel (Wiesbaden, Germany); Elfriede Langeloh (Weinheim, Germany); E. & H. Manners (London); Christophe Perlès (Paris); Potterton Books (Nr Thirsk, Yorks); Robyn Robb (London); Sampson & Horne (London); Adrian Sassoon (London); Christopher Sheppard (London); John P. Smith (London); Steppes Hill Farm Antiques (Sittingbourne, Kent); and John Whitehead (London).
The traditional queue formed outside the fair on the first day prior to the 11am opening and illustrated all too well how serious are ceramics’ fair followers and that when items of outstanding quality and rarity are on offer, there is no shortage of buyers.
Among the many exhibitors doing brisk business from the outset was Dragesco-Cramoisan (Paris) with museum-quality French porcelain and European glass. One major sale (for a six figure sum in Euros) was of an exceptional and large Sèvres porcelain vase fuseau (second size) dated 1825 and presented by Charles X of France to his grandson the Duke of Bordeaux. This royal piece had a chrome green ground and was heavily gilded, with handles in the form of dolphins, and was decorated with a reserve featuring a portrait after Kinson of the Duc d’Angoulême, Dauphin of France, on the front.
In addition they sold an extremely rare Sceaux soft-paste tea set from the mid 1750s – Sceaux made mostly faience and this set was probably the factory’s masterpiece in soft paste porcelain – comprising a teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl and two cups and saucers priced separately in four and five figures up to close to £20,000.
German dealer Daniela Kumpf (Wiesbaden) specialises in the finest Meissen and also exceptional pieces from other, often lesser-known, German, Austrian and even Russian factories. The object of very serious museum interest at the fair, she made a major early sale when a Meissen Commedia dell’Arte figure of a Greeting Harlequin by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1738), one of only four known, sold for a six figure sum (in Euros). Other highlight pieces attracting attention, included a pair of white porcelain Vienna figures of huntsmen on horseback from circa 1744/49, from the Rudolf Just collection (the enigmatic collector upon whom Bruce Chatwin’s Utz is based) and a very rare Moscow factory teaset from 1766, the year in which the factory was founded by the English merchant Francis Gardner. This made its outstanding quality and sophistication, combining translucent white porcelain with exquisite purply pink floral decoration (very hard to achieve and made from ground gold) all the more remarkable (asking price around 65,000 euros).
Elfriede Langeloh (Weinheim) features the finest Meissen and other 18th century German porcelains. Notable sales included a rare Meissen crinoline group by Kaendler of a lady at a spinet and a cavalier from 1741 (only six other examples exist) for a five figure sum and Meissen inkstand from1739-40, complete with tray, inkpot, and containers for sand and sealing wax (comparable to another in the Rothschild collection), for which she was asking around 40,000 euros.
At Brian Haughton Gallery, a buoyant start to the fair included sales among a range of pottery and porcelains including a rare, early Limehouse creamboat from circa 1744-48 (five figure price) with very serious and promising overseas interest being shown in one of the gallery’s most important (six figure price) offerings, the spectacular Meissen royal armorial presentation chafing dish and stand bearing the arms of Frederick-Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King Augustus III of Poland, dating from 1745.
Robyn Robb (London) offers the finest 18th century English porcelains and this year on her stand there was a large Worcester armorial jug from the late 1750s. From a private collection in Worcestershire and carrying a five figure price, it was unusually decorated with turbanned figures in chinoiserie style landscapes and with the arms of Cropley painted on the body beneath the spout. It sold early on at the fair to a private English collector. A St James’s cup, one of only three known, from 1750-52 (sold for in excess of £10,000), an extremely rare and apparently unique early octagonal Worcester saucer painted with a Chinese landscape from circa 1753 sold in the upper four figure range, while a very rare early Worcester “acrobat” bottle from 1753-54 brought a five figure sum.
Meanwhile at E & H Manners (London) where sales ranged in price up to £30,000, one of the most important pieces sold was a very rare A mark Bow porcelain teapot from the first patent of Edward Heylyn and Thomas Frye in 1744. This, the last such teapot still in private hands, was bought by a private collector for an undisclosed 5 figure sum.
Christophe Perlès (Paris) reported sales in the £700 to £35,000 range, with early Meissen particularly popular this year, and several possible buyers for each piece, while Justin Raccanello of Bazaart (London) had early success with his Neapolitan biscuit porcelain figures of the King and Queen of Naples by Filippo Tagliolini (circa 1800) bringing a five figure sum.
Adrian Sassoon’s customary mix of the finest 18th century Vincennes and Sèvres, alongside a wide selection of contemporary British studio ceramics and glass, attracted across the board interest and buying, with some buyers purchasing in both areas. Sales were mostly in the range £1200-7000, with pieces of particular note including a pretty Sèvres soft paste porcelain “tub” or jardinière delicately decorated with blue flowers and bearing a price tag in the upper four figures and, among the contemporary, a striking, large Kate Malone pot, Large Blackberry, going for close to £5000.
London glass dealer Christopher Sheppard enjoyed his “most successful Ceramics Fair ever”, selling a large number of 18th century English and Continental glasses, the majority in the four figure range but a small group at up to £15,000, right up to the close of business on the last day of the fair. His major offering at the fair and a source of major museum interest was an extraordinary and highly important enamelled and gilded deep blue glass Renaissance footed bowl (with a Rothschild collection provenance) for which he was optimistic he would soon find a buyer for “a substantial six figure sum”.
Jonathan Horne of Sampson and Horne was delighted with the success of early English pottery. He had no great expectations this year so was particularly pleased at the response to his new collection of English tiles which were selling from £100 each, while Staffordshire figures which are particularly hard to replace he said were also selling well. Prices generally spread in a range up to £7000.
The exhibitor presence and the business generated by them was complemented as always by the remarkable 12-part lecture programme. This reinforces the academic content of the fair, with lectures spread over the four days and at which distinguished speakers from the ceramics world, including many museum figures, share their latest findings and research with museum colleagues, private collectors, representatives from the leading auction houses, and ceramics enthuasiasts generally. Lectures this year included a discussion of the porcelain table services of Frederick the Great of Prussia, which was given by Dr Samuel Wittwer, Director of Palaces and Collections at the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation and who has recently been appointed overall head of 28 German castles/museums. Dr Andreina d’Agliano, author and lecturer, discussed highlights of the Italian porcelain collection in the Museo Civico in Turin and Roger Massey spoke about Armorial Ceramics in 18th century Britain in anticipation of the forthcoming English Ceramic Circle loan exhibition at Brian Haughton Gallery (21st June-3rd July) at 15 Duke Street, St James’s.
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