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Although not marked as such, this vase has all the hallmarks of the firm Scheurich Keramik which started production in 1954, rather later than most of its competitors, but soon became the largest producer of commercial art pottery in Germany. Their pieces rarely carried the factory name but usually the model number followed by the height in centimetres with ‘W.Germany’ below, as here. Scheurich were well known for producing a wide variety of pieces with variegated, almost experimental glazes and this vase is yet another successful example of their work, the simple lines of form combining with a more austere selection of glaze effects than found in some of their other pieces. Dating is to the 1960s.

The design for this jug, usually termed ‘Falstaff’ but sometimes ‘Old King Cole’ is known to have been registered (Rd.No. 32601)by the firm Furnival and Clark on December 30th 1845. This was a very short lived partnership between Thomas Furnival and Richard Clark, based at the Stafford Street Pottery Works, Hanley, Staffordshire and which traded from 1844 to 1846 apparently producing just this one model, albeit in a variety of colours. Thomas Furnival had been involved in other firms before this brief venture and was to be involved in others afterwards. The dating of these mugs is usually attributed to the short period when Furnival and Clark traded but it is quite possible that more pieces were produced afterwards by Furnival himself. The paste and finish of this piece, though, which is not marked, certainly suggest a mid nineteenth century dating. In general, the model is quite rare. Some examples were fitted with a Britannia metal or pewter lid but this was never integral to the piece. This striking composition, then, is a rare and desirable item collectors with an interest in British Staffordshire wares.

There were, in fact, two craftsmen working in the C20th British pottery industry with the name Edward Radford, father and son. Radford senior worked for Pilkington’s Royal Lancastrian Pottery in Manchester from 1903 until his retirement in 1936, acting as their main thrower. Radford junior joined his Father in 1905, but the First World War intervened, in which he won a Military Cross for his actions at Passchendaele in 1917 and afterwards he settled in Stoke on Trent, the heart of Britain’s pottery industry. An association developed with H.J.Wood’s Alexandra Pottery in Burslem who produced a range of wares bearing his name in the 1930s, although Radford himself may have acted as more a salesman than the designer. Production continued after the war and even after Radford’s retirement in 1948. The form of mark used here implies the later dating but may have been used earlier. The impressed figures indicate model number. Even if this vase is post war, the style is emphatically that of pre war Art Deco period with the simple lines of the form accompanied by semi abstract decoration vaguely reminiscent of Clarice Cliff combining to produce a piece of timeless attraction.

This is a fine example of the porcelains made at Jingdezhen, for centuries the chief centre of ceramic production in China, in the early years of the People’s Republic of China (1949-). Soon after the communists took control, the kilns at Jingdezhen were organised into co-operatives, each with a number. Many of their pieces were marked and the form of the mark determines the date of production. The circular marks, as here, were the earliest allowing a dating of this charger to the 1950s or possibly the early 1960s. Some of these conglomerates, for the quality can vary, retained the skills of their predecessors and produced works of high quality. This is clearly seen here in the careful and precise enamelling and the general artistry of the design employing ‘imperial’ yellow with the symbolism of happiness (bats), longevity (shou symbols), friendship and a life of ease (chrysanthemum) and fruitfulness and offspring (lotus), all combining to produce a piece well worthy of its many predecessors.

Please note that the wood stand is for display purposes only and is not incuded with this lot.

The technique used is that of ‘niello’ work. (The word derives either from the classical Latin word ‘nigellum’ or the later mediaeval words ‘nigello’ or ‘neelo’.) Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead and used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. Added as a paste, it hardens to a black colour after firing and is then polished. Here it is the ground that formed from niello while the design shows though in silver, a less common version.

There is much skill in the craftsmanship here and the result is a piece of classic and timeless simplicity.

The stamped mark to the base reads ‘Zhongguo Jingdezhen Zhi (China Jingdezhen Made)’ with the letter ‘V’ between two lines. In the early 1950s almost all the factories in Jiangxi, the province where the kiln town Jingdezhen is situated, were merged into larger units, each made up of ten to fifteen previously independent factories. From this time factory numbers such as we have here (=V=) came to be used and many pieces are found with a wide variety of letters and numbers indicating the various cooperatives. The quality of the productions varied and it is a reasonable assumption that increasing years witnessed a decline. While other examples of this type of jar exist, some with their original domed covers, this piece is of the very best quality, indeed the work matches earlier pieces in the style very closely, and a dating to the mid 1950s seems quite plausible. It shows that the Chinese potters continued to produce to a high standard when they chose to do so and provides a pleasing memento of the closing era of a tradition of porcelain production stretching back long into the past.

This is a typical example of the ‘Mandarin’ pattern produced by the Chinese in the late eighteenth century for export to the West where it enjoyed great popularity. The name derives from the male court figures, mandarins, who form such an important component of the designs. The scenes are carefully composed with much charm and rendered in a wide variety of coloured enamels with much emphasis on deep pink (‘Famille Rose’) and iron red. A wide variety of wares were produced in the pattern including vases, bowls, dinner services and tea sets, as here, where there would have been a set of bowls and saucers along with matching serving items. The charm and quality of this piece speaks for itself and presents an excellent and collectible example of this opulent pattern from the eighteenth century.

This ‘swirling’ pattern is sometimes found on late nineteenth century polychrome plaques. Dating here is probably later, perhaps to around 1920, in the middle of the Taisho period (1912 – 1926), but care has been taken with this piece and the mark, which unfortunately cannot be deciphered, no doubt denotes the studio which created it.

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Art and artistry combine in this striking photographic reproduction of a painting by the French artist Pierre Marie Beyle (1838-1902) produced by the ‘Photochromie’ printing process invented and perfected by the French photographer Leon Vidal (1834-1906).

Leon Vidal (see image 11) developed the photochrome printing process in the 1870s as a method of accurately colouring photographs for quantity reproduction. From the original negative a number of copy negatives were made, on glass or thin paper. On each negative, those areas which were not to be coloured were blocked out with an opaque medium. For example, on the negative prepared for the colour blue, only those areas to be coloured blue in the final print remained uncovered. Negatives were prepared for as many colours as required, up to twelve, and then used to make lithographic tint plates which were employed to transfer colours in succession to the monochrome photograph from the original negative.

‘Photochromie’, as the photochrome printing process was called, was patented in 1872 and 1874 and refined by Vidal in the studios of the Société Anonymes des Publications Périodiques, whose director he became in 1875. This Société was founded in 1869, initially for a period of 60 years, and its first major publication, published in 1878, was a lavishly illustrated book entitled ‘Le Trésor artistique de la France’ in which the French heritage in the arts was represented by thirty nine specially selected items of particular cultural and artistic merit, each described by an expert in the field and all illustrated, a few in monochrome and the bulk, thirty in all, in colour employing the newly discovered photochromie process. The results were unfortunately uneven and the cost of the volume, three hundred francs, prohibitively high which resulted in the first volume of a proposed series being its last. Individual plates from this publication appear on the market today and are sought by collectors.

Less commonly seen are individual representations of contemporary paintings which Vidal also produced in the studios of the Société at its premises, 13 Quai Voltaire, Paris. Vidal’s printing process was not the only one available to the French public in the late nineteenth century but it was probably the most accomplished and Vidal sought to exploit this by issuing a series of reproductions suitable for interior decoration. Most popular amongst the artists whose work he chose to reproduce seems to have been Pierre Marie Beyle (1838-1902).

Beyle was born in Lyon in 1838 and studied in Paris where he later exhibited regularly at the Salon, from 1867 to 1900. Around 1870, he went to Algiers and the themes of the city are reflected in his paintings of those years (see image 12 for an example). Later he became known for landscape and genre scenes many of which depict the surroundings of Normandy where he used to spend his summers and in addition he followed the contemporary fascination with the Orient producing paintings with themes from the Far East such as we have here. Beyle also worked as a caricaturist in satirical newspapers such as the Petit Journal, the Fun Journal and Bouffon in the 1860s and 1870s. He exhibited at the Grafton Gallery in London in 1881, then went to Scotland where he exhibited at the Institute of Fine Arts in Glasgow. In 1900, he exhibited at the Universal Exhibition. After settling in Chennevieres-sur-Marne towards the end of his life he died in Paris in 1902 and was buried at Montparnasse.

The rich palette of colours employed in Beyle’s paintings were well suited to reproduction by Vidal’s newly invented printing process and he doubtless chose those works which he felt would have a particular popular appeal. The rage for ‘Japonisme’ in the second half of the nineteenth century is well documented and its influence was widely spread, perhaps most famously in David Belasco’s play ‘Madame Butterfly’ which inspired Puccini’s opera of the same name. The Geisha figure here fortunately holds a fan rather than a sword and is seen gazing at an elaborate bronze incense burner. The elaborate colours of her robe are well reproduced by the ‘Photochromie’ technique and the whole composition has a richness of presentation which doubtless reflects the original painting which appears still to be in the private domain. Beyle’s signature is accurately reproduced at the bottom right and Vidal’s invention is proudly announced on the reverse with the sun inspired emblem at the top and the wording below ‘Photochromie’ ‘Photographie en Couleurs’ ‘sans le secours du pinceau’. No hand colouring here! The modern frame acts acts as complement to the image and both combine to present a highly decorative picture of considerable cultural interest.

Although not marked as such, this vase has all the hallmarks of the firm Scheurich Keramik which started production in 1954, rather later than most of its competitors, but soon became the largest producer of commercial art pottery in Germany. Their pieces rarely carried the factory name but usually the model number followed by the height in centimetres with ‘W.Germany’ below, as here. Model ‘517’ can be found in a variety of different glazes but the pattern and colourings here, more muted than some of Sheurich’s work and with a matt finish, are particularly pleasing and complement the elegant form most successfully. Dating is to the 1960s.

The influence of Art Deco style of this piece is clear and it does indeed date to the 1930s. The model, termed ‘Arabella’ can apparently be seen in the 1934 catalogue of the German glass manufacturers Walther and Sohne, founded by August Walther in 1888 at Ottendorf-Akrilla near Dresden. In the 1930s the firm was famous for its Art Deco designs and also produced a version of ‘cloud glass’ which at one time was held to be exclusive to the English manufacturer Davidson. But some of the English glass makers also drew on their German rival’s work such that Walther and Sohne patented some of their designs in the UK in 1937, presumably to protect their work. This centrepiece set is a classic example of Walther and Sohne’s pre war productions and a distinctive example of Art Deco glassware.

The Maruku factory seems to have operated in Japan after the second world war producing modest but good quality wares for export, rather in the style of Noritake pieces. Usually their pieces are marked in addition ‘Made in Japan’ but for some reason not here. The forms, colourings and designs here are quite unusual and while modest, these are good quality decorative items suitable for a contemporary interior.

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While a close relation to the traditional Victorian ‘Staffordshire Dog’, these figures were actually made by the English firm Beswick in the twentieth century. Founded in 1894 by James Beswick and his sons, the company became known for its output of figurines, eventually securing the rights to producing characters from the novels of Beatrix Potter and the films of Walt Disney. It was sold to Royal Doulton in 1969 who continued production until 2002, selling the pottery premises in 2003 and the rights to the name in 2004 when they were bought by Dartington Crystal who still manufacture pieces carrying the Beswick name. These spaniel figures appear to date from the 1960s and were made in at least two sizes. Most have painted decoration but the plain white finish here is really the most pleasing of all producing a pair of decorative items with timeless appeal.

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While close to the Chinese originals, many features indicate European and indeed English manufacture, in particular the drawing of the ladies’ heads, the palette of colours used, the borders employed and, most importantly, the glaze and paste of the reverse. The most likely producer here was the Worcester factory whose ‘Mandarin’ pieces were well known and a circa date in the second half of the eighteenth century is reasonable. The saucers would have come from a small tea service with matching bowls and various serving items, including, of course, a teapot. Not so likely to be used now, they provide an elegant example of the vogue for Chinoiserie in England at the time.

Wade Ceramics Ltd was a manufacturer of porcelain and earthenware, headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Founded in 1867, it was run by various members of the Wade family until the death of George Anthony Wade in 1987 after which there was a succession of management buyouts. Despite substantial investment in 2009, the firm eventually went into administration in 2022. Wade produced a wide variety of ceramics, including the well known Wade Whimsies animal figurines.

Many of their pieces were designed to act as small containers for flowers and trinkets and this piece is a particularly amusing example of the type. Two colour ranges exist, one as here and one with much darker tones which is held to be later. Dating here, then, is most likely to the 1950s/1960s when the Wade production lines were in full swing and enjoying considerable popularity.

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