Sunday, October 14, 2018

A Successful Day At Auction & A Connection To An Important Welsh Ceramics Collection

Chronica Domus
Two auction attendees contemplate their bidding strategy
Photo: Chronica Domus


It has been an age since I was motivated enough to haul my caboose out of the house on a weekend morning to attend a live auction. One bright and sunny day last month, my husband and I did just that, taking our ringside seats at the hottest event in town.  Fellow ceramics collectors, clutch your paddles tight.  I am about to show you what it was that had me so revved up. 

While some attending the sale anticipated successful bids on the Picassos, Chagalls, or Dalis on offer, it was the numerous lots of English ceramics of the late-eighteenth to early-nineteenth century that lured me in like a fish to water.  Now, let me preface my scribblings by stating that in my part of the world, stumbling across a piece of early porcelain or creamware on my travels is a rare thing indeed.  These utilitarian (and fragile) articles were, after all, manufactured in potteries located on the other side of the world, on a small island over two centuries ago.  Bearing all that in mind, you can well imagine my delight at being confronted by the glorious vision captured in the photograph below:


Chronica Domus
A display case chock-full of early Wedgwood and Spode creamware table articles
spells danger for this particular addict collector
Photo: Chronica Domus


And, for admirers of early drabware ceramics, feast your eyes on this:

Chronica Domus
No, this is not a decorative arts museum's exhibit but the contents of a
single lot for sale at auction
Photo: Chronica Domus


Or, how about some neoclassically decorated English porcelain?  There was plenty of that to go around too.

Chronica Domus
Yes, please!
Photo: Chronica Domus


Chronica Domus
A Coalport tea service in a pretty orange and gilt pattern, circa 1820
Photo: Chronica Domus



After a brief confab with my husband, it was settled.  One of the creamware lots would - fingers crossed - be going home with us.  Spotting at least one other interested party circling the display cases and pacing between the creamware and the silver lots, we might be up against competition.

The lot that piqued our interest happened to be the final one of the early ceramics.  First under the auctioneer's gavel was the drabware, sold to an Internet bidder at, astonishingly, less than the bottom end of estimate.  Next, the first of two lots of Spode Greek pattern.  That too sold at a very reasonable hammer price. The creamware was next ...

Chronica Domus
Sold! ... Nine pieces of Wedgwood's Flute and Wreath pattern
Photo: Chronica Domus


Chronica Domus
Sold!... Wedgwood's Etruscan Pattern 42 in red and black and
Pattern 93 in yellow and black enamel, circa 1785 - 1790
Photo: Chronica Domus


Chronica Domus
Sold!... Five pieces (two out of range of this photograph) of Wedgwood's Pattern 94
Photo: Chronica Domus


Chronica Domus
Sold!... A large covered dish in brown and yellow enamel and an integral sauce tureen
Photo: Chronica Domus


Bidding was fast and furious and after several of the English porcelain lots came and went, it was time to take my paddle to hand and steel myself for the battle ahead. It helps, of course, to have the support of one's dear husband who is not such a bag of nerves when it comes to these matters. He usually wields the paddle but on this occasion, I found the strength to raise my own. As luck would have it, the experience was not at all intimidating. It did help that I was the only interested bidder. Sold! to the lady who almost fainted from the rush of excitement when the gavel finally dropped. We were going home with not one but two shelves full of delicious creamware plates and serving dishes (seen in the second top photograph of this post).

Chronica Domus
The winning lot!
Photo: Chronica Domus


Accompanying the stack of ten plates is a large shapely serving dish in the same hand-painted geometric pattern.  

Chronica Domus
It is hard to believe that this pristine Wedgwood serving dish is over 200 years old
Photo: Chronica Domus


Chronica Domus
A pair of Spode creamware supper dishes painted in a similar orange and black
enamel to the Wedgwood pieces are also included in the lot
Photo: Chronica Domus


The story of the winning ceramics doesn't quite end here.  A further serving dish included in the lot yielded a clue as to the previous owner.  It is always an exciting prospect to ponder where such humble household articles began their life, how they were used, and who cared for them along the way.  

Chronica Domus
Aha! A clue to where these dishes once lurked
Photo: Chronica Domus


Chronica Domus
Who might Grant-Davidson be I wonder?
Photo: Chronica Domus


A collector's label affixed to the underside of the dish prompted a little Internet sleuthing which soon revealed the identify of Grant-Davidson as the author of the following book:

Chronica Domus


Yes, that's right, my new old creamware dishes once formed part of the private collection of internationally recognized ceramics expert Mr. Wallace James Grant-Davidson.  

Mr. Wallace James Grant-Davidson proudly showing off part of his ceramics collection

Mr. Grant-Davidson, a historian and authority on Welsh pottery, was also an extraordinary lifetime collector of eighteenth and nineteenth century British porcelain and ceramics.  Following his death in 1999, Sotheby's was charged with dispensing the collection which included pieces of Whieldon, redware, stoneware, pratt-type wares, delftware, Staffordshire and Sunderland lustreware as well as creamware.  The collection was broken up into 270 lots that raised a sum of £110,975.

It is a rare privilege indeed to be privy to information on the provenance of newly acquired items at auction beyond, of course, what the seller provides the auction house.  This is why I was so pleased to discover the collection label attached to the underside of one of my plates.  The label led me to some fascinating information released by Sotheby's in the run up to the sale.  It identifies exactly where these dishes last resided during their two-hundred year history:

"The whole house was decorated with the china", Mrs. Margaret Grant-Davidson said; "every room had pieces on the walls, it covered the walls in the study, the bedroom, the dining room and even up the stairs!  My husband was a true collector, he brought what he liked.  I was married to him for more than 60 years and he was so meticulous and kept everything.  It is taking me a long time to sort things out and I am still finding things that I never knew we had.  I have kept many items as the house would be bare otherwise". 

It is pleasing to imagine that a humble Welsh house in Swansea was once home to such an extraordinary and well-loved collection of ceramics.  And now, here in my own humble abode, half way across the world, Mr. Grant-Davidson's dishes have somehow found their way to me.  I wonder where they'll end up next?  Until that day dawns, I look forward to using and enjoying my creamware, and setting it atop my period appropriate English mahogany dining table, alongside period glassware and silver.  Who knows, perhaps table and plate might have already met at a long-past luncheon or dinner party. 

Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'm off to hatch a plan for my creamware's coming out party ...

17 comments:

  1. My Dear CD,

    Oh how GSL just loves a gal with Style and Range. While we've all long known of your affection for Anglo-Irish Mustard Tooling and Black Basalt, we can now add Creamware.

    I'm delighted you triumphed in your quest for that beautiful collection with Grant-Davidson provenance who would no doubt be pleased at his collection's new steward and I envy the lucky guests that will witness its re-introduction.

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    1. Hello GSL, and thank you. You are not the only one delighted at my triumph on the auction floor. I should have had my husband bring the smelling salts for I almost fainted with excitement when that gavel fell.

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  2. Oh gosh how wonderful! I feel the universe (as we say in this neck of the woods) must have had a hand in your bidding:).

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    Replies
    1. Hello LPC,

      It's funny to think that the universe has reunited a British-made plate with a British gal half way across the planet. I only hope Mr. Grant-Davidson approves.

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  3. Oh, well played, CD! It was no doubt a Triumphal March back to the Domus that day. Mr. Grant-Davidson would be tipping his hat to you, knowing some of his collection is going to a very appreciative home.

    The Spode supper dishes are a nice complement to your lovely new set of plates. I look forward to seeing how you'll be setting your table at their Coming Out Party!

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    1. Thank you, Pipi, I'm certainly thrilled to have won them. I will, of course, make sure to raise my glass in Mr. G-D's honor when his plates finally make their appearance at my next dinner party.

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  4. Hello CD, Congratulations on your latest acquisition, especially with such a great provenance. It is a very handsome set, and will be impressive when entertaining a group of friends who share your love of history.

    There must be luck in the air recently, because I too just purchased a couple of nice items. Unfortunately, they will be sent to Cleveland, so one post will have to wait, but I am hoping to write something about the other one this month.
    --Jim

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    Replies
    1. Hello Jim, and thank you. I'm not sure all of our friends quite appreciate the history behind the odds and ends I've managed to accumulate over the years. Most of them just think it is sheer madness to use old glassware and porcelain and fear it is "too precious". Rubbish I tell them! Using an old glass or plate is all part of the fun of owning it. Enjoy it I say!

      I look forward to reading all about your own auction finds. You always write about the most obscure items.

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  5. Congratulations! I cannot wait to see how you set a table with them. Your post on a dinner party (back in October 2016?) is my favorite of any post on any blog. You have beautiful, classic style.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Stephanie Bell, and thank you for the lovely comment. You are too kind. An at-home-old-fashioned-sit-down-dinner-party is way overdue I'm afraid. Time to start planning another.

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  6. So beautiful and the condition is amazing but then the provenance explains it. Will you be using for thanksgiving? PS having issue with commenting on any blog including mine... N

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    Replies
    1. Hello Naomi,

      Sorry to hear you are having trouble commenting. How frustrating!

      I don't think I'll be using these dishes for Thanksgiving (golly, better start planning as that holiday is just around the corner!), but I can see the orange enamel decoration looking rather smart alongside a slice of delicious pumpkin pie.

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  7. Ah the thrill of victory. That splendid creamware of impeccable provenance is going to a good and appreciative home. Mr. Grant-Davidson would have approved. What better excuse to throw a dinner party so you can display your auction bounty. Do you know where you will store this acquisition?
    Best,
    KL Gaylin

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    Replies
    1. Dearest Karen,

      You've hit upon my Achilles heel. Yes, I admit it, I have a bit of a storage issue at the moment and bringing more dishes into the house was a bad idea. Well, sort of.

      When I stop to ponder what Mr. Grant-Davidson's house might have looked like with his extensive collection scattered here and there, I suddenly feel a lot better about my storage problems.

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  8. Congratulations on your win!! Nice to be the sole bidder. I love that drabware. It's anything but drab, to me anyway. I'm guessing this was Bonham's SF? Their auctions seem to be so infrequent of late that I've stopped paying attention. Guess I'd better keep up...

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    Replies
    1. Hello Diogenes,

      Thank you. By the way, I too adore drabware but I've resisted it's alluring charm for years and all because I've absolutely no room left to start a new collection. I have a single item of drabware, an inkwell, and I'm sticking to that. This lot was certainly tempting though.

      Sadly, Bonhams has stopped the American and European decorative arts and furniture sales in SF and has instead focused on wine and Asian arts.

      Delete

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