Pottery by Harris Davis

With our successful February auctions not long past, it's time to look at what we have coming up in March.

In particular we have the British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Plate auction on the 12th of March that we are fortunate enough to be auctioning various pieces of pottery by Harry Davis. 

This stunning Royal Worcester jar painted by Harry Davis (one of several Worcester pieces already in) has come in for the Ceramics auction on 12 March. It is estimated to sell for over £2000.

Harry Davis, who was born in 1910, was an English potter who was educated in both Switzerland and England. He furthered his education at the Bournemouth School of Art where unfortunately the pottery class was full. This never stopped Harry though. He worked away for hours in the pottery room outwith school hours where he created numerous pots that grabbed the attention of many, especially the headmaster. He was then sent to work as a decorator at Broadstone Potters near Poole where he showed interest in all aspects of the art. Here he enhanced and improved his skills needed at a potters wheel.

After his early experiences he went on to work for Bernard and David Leach at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, Cornwall where he later met his wife. After this he went on to become head of the Art School at Achimota College in Ghana where he looked into the feasibility of manufacturing tiles, bricks and pots.

After travelling for a while with his wife, May, he returned to England in 1946 and they started up "Crowan Pottery", near Praze in Cornwall, producing domestic ware. Crowan pots became well-known for their fine appearance and strength and even though the couple managed the flourishing pottery for 16 years, they still wanted more. They chose to emigrate to New Zealand in 1962 where they founded the “Crewenna Pottery”.

However, they soon got restless here resulting in Harry jetting off to Peru in 1972 where they spent eight years of their life building a pottery at Izcuchaca. In 1979 May returned to New Zealand and Harry, in poor health, shortly after. Sadly he passed away at "Crewenna" in 1986.

His pottery are all unique and beautiful pieces that are sure to be snapped up quickly when they go under the hammer.

It's set to be a good auction so we hope to see you there.

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Pottery from Moorcroft

February's special auctions will see a number of exciting items being auctioned with William Moorcroft's pottery being the highlights in the British & Continental Ceramics, Silver & Glass auction on Tuesday the 5th at 10.30am.

Born in Burslem, Staffordshire, William Moorcroft was a well-known English potter, who, after studying art at Burslem, London and Paris, experimented with his own designs, creating Aurelian Ware. This particular pottery was partially decorated with transfers and painted by hand. He was employed by James Macintyre & Co. Ltd who put Moorcroft in control of the company's art pottery studio after 1 year.

His first innovative design was the Florian Ware. He succeeded in developing highly lustred glazes and used oriental shapes and decorations which led him to develop this award winning range that boasts a radiance of colour with heavy slip and a translucent glaze. A lot of Moorcrofts pottery was sold through Liberty & Co and Tiffany in New York

Following on with his success and the closure of his studio in Macintyre & Co. Ltd, Moorcroft set up his own factory at Cobridge in 1913 and the business thrived. His reputation was further enhanced when Queen Mary made him "Potter to the Queen," which was stamped on the pottery, giving it a royal warranty. 

We are extremely lucky to have the following Moorcroft 'hot lots' going under the hammer in our British & Continental Ceramics, Silver & Glass auction.

Lot 150: estimate £1500-2000.

The colours are stunning on this large Moorcroft ‘Moonlit Blue’ pattern Baluster Vase … circa 1920, with impressed marks and signed in green to the base, 27.5cm high.

Lot 149: estimate £1500-2000.

This Moorcroft for Macintyre Florian Ware three handle vase with tube-lined designs painted in shades of blue, green, and pink on a cream ground with poppies and forget-me-nots, 25cm high is one not to be missed in the upcoming auction.

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