A notable private collection of studio pottery, including pieces from leading British 20th century ceramicists, will be sold in the 20th Century Design Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 5th October. The David and Brenda Pearson Studio Pottery Collection will comprise 33 lots, including outstanding pieces such as a Stoneware Bottle and Vase, circa 1983 by the inimitable Dame Lucie Rie (estimate: £6,000-9,000 all figures exclude buyer’s premium), and three further examples of her work. Also on offer are pieces by influential Japanese potter Shōji Hamada, who helped Bernard Leach establish his studio in St. Ives, which include a Stoneware Press-Moulded Bottle Vase, purchased in Japan in 1972.
David and Brenda Pearson had a passion for studio ceramics and purchased much of their collection from the Peter Dingley Gallery in Stratford-upon-Avon, not far from their home in Birmingham, which showcased the works of outstanding contemporary potters. In 1972, David, an anaesthetist, went to Japan for a medical conference, where he visited the Hamada pottery at Mashiko, and met two of Hamada’s sons. David and Brenda retired to Grange-over-Sands in the early 1980s, and their collection includes pieces by the likes of Bernard, David and Janet Leach, Richard Batterham and John Maltby.
A further Private Collection of French and American Art Glass from the North West, dating from 1900 to the 1930s is also on offer. Comprising cameo and painted pieces, the collection was predominantly purchased by the collector from leading Decorative Arts glass dealers Denise and Shane Theophilus. Highlights of the collection include an Émile Gallé Cameo ‘Le Lac de Come’ Glass Vase, made circa 1925 (estimate: £4,000-6,000), and a Favrile Glass Floriform Vase by Tiffany Studios (estimate: £3,000-5,000), which was once in the collection of Barbra Streisand, before being sold with the rest of her collection at Christie’s, New York in 1994.
A very rare example of the work of Eric Ravilious, a Child’s Handkerchief, is entered with an estimate of £1,000-1,500. Ravilious was asked by the British Cotton Board to make some designs for handkerchiefs and scarves, which were to be displayed in travelling exhibitions in the United States featuring work by War Artists. The designs were to be manufactured by a firm in Lancashire which produced textiles printed by lithography, a highly unusual textile printing process. The first experimental textile made was a child’s handkerchief, the final version of which was simple and used bright yellows against dark greys and greens depicting stylised numbers and images. Between figures eleven and twelve is the inscription ‘To John’, John being the eldest child of the artist and his wife, Tirzah. The handkerchiefs were never commercially produced, and it is thought that there were fewer than five sample handkerchiefs made.
Further notable lots coming up in the sale include a Pair of Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre Candlemas Patter Vases designed by Daisy Makeig-Jones (estimate: £2,500-3,500), a Maw & Co. Ruby Lustre Charger decorated with a Lion and Lioness (estimate: £1,000-1,500), and several pieces by Martin Brothers, including a Stoneware Dragon Baluster Vase (estimate: £1,000-1,500).
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