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ANTIQUES
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Moorcroft Pottery
William Moorcroft ( 1872-1945 ), an art school graduate and the son of a Burslem china painter and designer , was first employed in 1897 as a designer for the commercial pottery and porcelain firm of James Macintyre & Co . As a reaction to mass production , ‘ art pottery ’ enjoyed wide popularity at the end of the 19th century . Names like Carter ( Poole ), Pilkingtons ( Salford ), Linthorpe ( Middlesborough ), William De Morgan ( London ) and Ruskin ( Smethwick ) all emerged in this period . Among the most successful and enduring was the Moorcroft pottery in Cobridge , Staffordshire . Since 1962 , when the Moorcroft family bought out Liberty , the pottery has had a chequered ownership history , but continued to produce wares in the distinctive tube-lined style . While auction prices fluctuate , Moorcroft remains enormously popular with a broad range of buyers from the English-speaking nations and beyond . Prices for Moorcroft begin at £ 20 for a piece of Powder Blue or a post-War pin tray and climb to the five-figure sums paid at auction for the largest pieces from the Florian range . Generally , while recently-made pieces are widely collected , and some of the modern limited edition pieces or those from the Sally Tuffin era can bring substantial sums , it is the Walter and particularly the William Moorcroft signed and designed pieces which are most sought after .
79 Regent Street , Shanklin , PO37 7AP Telephone : 01983 863441
Everybody who has a television will have heard over the years that brown antique furniture has become very unpopular . To some extent this is true and people have had to revise their expectations of what items may now make at auction . At Island Auction Rooms the trend has been that as long as brown furniture is ready to go straight into a house , with no restoration required , the market is fairly strong . The market at the moment is very strong for lighter coloured pieces of furniture , unusual or decorative items , with a strong market for lighting and interior design pieces . Director Warren Riches comments that having live internet bidding platforms creates a large international buying clientele , “ Which is good for our vendors but not so good for our expanding packing department ! It ’ s amazing to think how far auctions have come since I started in 1995 . Now you can sit in your armchair in USA , China , Russia or wherever and watch my auction live whilst bidding , for lots of interest . Then you can have your purchasers shipped out by air - all within a week of hitting the buy button - now that ’ s service ! “ We are now collecting for our renowned Cowes week specialist sale please call 01983 863441 for a free appraisal .”
Auction report
Having recently expanded the Live Internet Bidding platform , Island Auction Rooms have noticed a significant pick up in buyers from around the world for small silver and good jewellery . With the ability to analyse sales result patterns , the team at Shanklin can see which areas are moving upwards and to which demographic . Warren Riches , Director , said “ This state of the art facility is amazing and leads us having to pack and post all around the globe . From clients entering items into the auction , we photograph , catalogue and get the lot listed on three world wide websites .
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