Meissen menagerie makes magnificent money...
10th July 2022
Lawrences looked a little like a ceramic zoo on July 6th when a collection of 40 lots of Meissen porcelain animals was met with steady and eager bidding. A large (47cm high) Cockatoo by Paul Walther for Meissen led the field and flew to £3750 against hopes of £1200. The collection realised £39,600 doubling the mid estimate.
An 18th Century English Delft bowl depicting Adam and Eve by the Tree of Knowledge was bought for £1750; and an onion-shaped dark green glass wine bottle from 1709 with the seal of Alix Erskin exceeded hopes of £1500 to make £4750. Named and dated bottles from the 18th Century are eagerly collected by wine enthusiasts and glass collectors alike. A selection of Decorative Arts was led by a Moorcroft vase in the `Moonlit Blue` design that made £875 and two modern sculptures by Franta Belsky (1921-2000) that were contested to £2000.
Four lots of Oriental wares took the sale’s best prices: a pair of Chinese coral stem bowls made £3000; and a pair of Chinese Imperial sang de boeuf dishes of the Qianlong period (1735-1796) made £9375. A Chinese bronze censor of the Yuan/Ming dynasty made £11,250 and the price was shared by a five carved bamboo figures that showed exemplary skills of carving and finish. The delighted vendor had had hopes of just £150 for the group.
