Perfect Pieces Specialists in British Pottery

An interesting article in The Guardian on May 19th (got a bit behind and only found it today!)… It seems that HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs - the UK’s taxman) is starting to look in more detail at online auction activity.  According to this article, tax inspectors will be trawling through many thousands of online auction sales and looking for any UK eBay sellers who are especially busy. They will then investigate whether these sellers should be classed as traders or not.

The article provides a detailed set of examples explaining who qualifies as a trader and who does not, but in essence it depends whether you are buying to sell or whether you are simply selling surplus possessions. Capital Gains Tax can also come into play on larger sales.

The article is here and is well worth a read for anyone who trades on eBay.

Perfect Pieces has been featured in print again - this time in Collect It! magazine with a detailed guide to buying and selling ceramics at auction. “Making auctions work for you”, by Roland Head, includes illustrated examples of crafty restoration and concealed damage, as well as a breakdown of the true costs of buying and selling at auction.

The article is in the June 2007 issue of this popular collectors’ magzine and is in the shops now!

I came across this article today. It is all about the restoration of a late Victorian house in the American city of St. Louis, Missouri.

It seems that the city authorities would like the house to become a tourist attraction, illustrating how one of the leading local families of the 1880s would have lived. Unfortunately, the antique dealers charged with fitting out the house have managed to spend $83,000 of tax payers’ money on antique fittings, only to have a local historical expert describe the interior as looking “like a 1930s brothel”.

The antiques are now all to be sold at auction - presumably to fund a second attempt…

Read the full article on the St. Louis Today website here.

It seems that Wareham auctioneer Cottee’s recent Poole Pottery auction was every bit the success that was hoped for - for pictures and an interesting write up see the Poole Room blog. This blog also has an interesting account of the recent Poole Pottery open day, organised at the factory shop by new owners Lifestyle and featuring well-known Poole artists from past and present such as Carol Cutler.

It seems that the factory is definitely closed for good, but that the shop will be retained and is to move to new premises as soon as a suitable location can be found.

The Poole Room sells a wide range of Poole Pottery and other work by former Poole artists from their website.

The 21st April saw the annual Stella Ashbrook (Pendelfin Collector’s Handbook author) PenDelfin auction, this year in Chester and featuring a fair mixture of old, new, rare and unique PenDelfin, as well as some of Jean Walmsley Heap’s own pre-PenDelfin artwork.

Jean (JWH) was there, as were a reasonable number of enthusiastic collectors and dealers, although perhaps not so many as in years gone by.

Although there were quite a few older pieces, for me, one of the surprises and highlights of the sale was this piece:

This is the original 1953 PenDelfin Fairy Plaque – the second piece of PenDelfin ever to be made. The plaque was the result of much hard work by Jeannie Todd and JWH in Jeannie’s kitchen – as described
and pictured on page 16 of The Pendelfin Story, by Jean Walmsley Heap. The hammer eventually came down at £1900, which didn’t seem excessive for a unique, early piece like this.

An added attraction was its provenance - JWH’s personal collection - and the fact it was signed by Jean as well.

We were able to get a few photos of some of the more unusual pieces, so here is a taster if you weren’t able to make it on the day:

This unusual Juliet plaque went for bottom estimate at £300 and had an unusual silver label (see the Pendelfin section of our pottery marks guide)

A rare Metallion Flying Witch Plaque, from the late Doreen Noel Robert’s personal collection (as were many of the more unusual pieces). The hammer came down at £160 on this one.

Another one from DNR’s collection - a bit worn, but one of the rarest characters around - Cyril Squirrel. £380 hammer price.

Doreen’s own rare Rheingold Lamp Base, in reasonable condition with just a few paint flakes, this fetched a handsome £700.

Some of Jean Walmsley Heap’s original paintings - these for the Tommy Tweet series of children’s stories.

All hammer prices were subject to a 20% premium.

All in all, it was an enjoyable day out, and it was encouraging to see the enthusiasim of the collectors who were present - while many of them were of slightly more mature years (hmm), there were some younger buyers too! Here’s looking forward to next year’s sale.