Keith Murray brought fresh, modern and contemporary designs to the Wedgwood pottery making it highly desirable today. Most sought after are the unsual shapes, the larger pieces and the rarer colours.
This black basalt Keith Murray bowl currently on eBay is certainly large and in one of the more collectable colours. The seller measures it as over 9″ in diameter and shows that it has the favoured red Keith Murray script mark to its base.
Whilst this seller does provide a couple of photographs showing the outside of the bowl there are none of the inside. Bowls are well known to be worn in the centre from being used so if you’re thinking about bidding it might be worth asking for an additional photograph or description of the condition of the inside, just to be sure.
The Carlton Ware pottery from Stoke on Trent produced some stunning designs such as this – pattern number 3787 Devil’s Copse. An intricate and art deco pattern with fine gilding and enamelling all over the body of the vase.
Dating from probably around the mid-1920s to the 1930s this vase is from a period where Carlton Ware were excelling with their designs – some of which are hugely collectable today.
This seller provides a fair description about the vase with lots of photographs that can be enlarged so you can get a pretty good idea about its condition. Remember to ask any questions you have about it before the end of the auction, it’s always better to be completely sure about a piece before you commit to buying it. It also gives you a chance to communicate with the seller so you can be sure exaclty who you are buying from!
eBay Australia’s battle to win user and regulatory acceptance for their proposed PayPal-only payment policy looks like it will continue for some time.
The company has had to suspend the introduction of its PayPal-only payment policy pending the outcome of an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The ACCC is concerned that eBay may be abusing its position as the clear leader in online auctions by using it to eliminate competition in the online payment sector.
As I’ve documented before, one of the largest objectors to eBay’s proposed policy was Google itself, presumably anxious that its PayPal competitor, Google Checkout, will be unfairly disadvantaged by the planned restriction.
Naturally eBay simply claim that the policy will help eliminate fraud and provide a better user experience… This seems to be their explanation for every unpopular change they make (of which there are an increasing number).
Somehow I suspect the real reason may be that eBay spent a lot of money when they bought PayPal…
The weather these past few days has greatly improved on the fog and rain from last week. The bright sunshine made me think about the Geoffrey Baxter range for Whitefriars Glass – the strong shapes and bright vivid colours. One shape inparticular came to mind, the Sunburst!
The Sunburst shape is pattern number 9676 and was designed by Geoffrey Baxter around 1967. This vase depicts a typical full sun and stands approximately 6″ tall.
Here is a selection of Whitefriars glass currently on eBay:
To read more about this fantastic range of retro glass check out our
Whitefriars Glass guide.
You may have seen our June Newsletter detailing the work of Charlotte Rhead and how she became a master of tube-lining. You’ll be familiar with the style – patterns are outlined using liquid clay, as we described in the Newsletter “rather like icing a cake”!
To illustrate her technique I’ve included some that are currently on eBay. You can always find examples of her work here and sometime some real gems come up for auction! Have a look at some of these:
As with all pottery designers Charlotte Rhead designed many patterns some more collectable than others. It isn’t just the pattern that can affect an items value though, its shape and also pottery mark can play an important role. If at all posssible I’d always suggest trying to obtain pieces that have her
signature mark on the base – some pieces even though they are Charlotte Rhead patterns don’t have this.
Always, be sure to check the piece over so you’re confident about it’s condition and are aware of any faults it may have before you purchase. With eBay always feel free to ask the seller questions about the item before you bid. If a seller is unhelpful or doesn’t answer be weiry about bidding, while there are lots of decent sellers on eBay there are also some roque traders.
eBay Australia’s attempt to ban all payment methods other than PayPal and cash has attracted hundred of written complaints to the Australian Competition Commission and Consumer Commission, which is considering the fairness of the proposed policy. The ACCC has promised to make a ruling on the planned change before it’s due to go live in June.
One of the complainants, however, has turned out to be a rather large company that’s worried about the prospects for its own payment processing system. Google has not yet launched Google Checkout in Australia but is likely to do so eventually and sees an eBay ban on its system as anti-competitive and a thorough pain in the neck.
Google’s submission to the ACCC was meant to be kept anonymous but was not – witness this article on the Auctionbytes website.
This Pilkingtons Royal Lancastrian lustre vase is a truly stunning piece. Standing a massive 10″ tall it would make a superb centre piece. It is decorated in a brown and creamy lustre with a dragon pattern around the body and has full markings to the base, including the Pilkingtons bee mark c1904-1914, and the artist mark of Gordon M Forsyth.
The seller has included many photographs of the piece, but as with all photographs of this type of ware it is very tricky to achieve photographs that actually show off the beauty of the pieces. With the way the lustre reflects and the use of flash, you can often find yourself in the vase reflection if not careful!
Nevertheless from the photographs you can see the pattern, shape, base markings and general condition of the vase, and as with all auctions if unsure be sure to contact the seller BEFORE bidding with any questions you may have about the piece.
The Cornish pottery Troika based in St. Ives and then later in Newlyn made many different styles of vases including standing, hanging and wall pockets. This flower pocket vase was one example of the more unusal pieces they produced from their textured range.
This example is a piece produced when they were based in Newlyn, c1970-1983, and has been decorated by Louise Jinks. Louise Jinks, who later was Louise McClary, worked at the pottery from around 1976 to 1981. From 1979 she was a senior decorator at the pottery.
The wall pockets are around 8″ by 6.5″ in size and have two holes on the back for hooking onto the wall. Not as striking as some of the pieces that Troika made they do hold a certain appeal especially if one were to mount it on the wall and use it for flowers!
I’ve just spotted this Pilkingtons Royal Lancastrian lustre lidded bowl on eBay. It is an extremely finely-decorated piece by Gladwys Rodgers, one of the most collectable of the Royal Lancastrian artists.
Royal Lancastrian lustre wares are quite often worn or may have cracks, hairlines or crazing. Their thin bodies and the glazes that were used make this inevitable. However, this piece appears to be in excellent overall condition and is illustrated with no fewer than 12 photographs!
It’s a truly stunning and rare example of early 20th century art pottery.
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Further to this stunning lidded pot that finished on eBay at £775 on 12th May, I’ve just spotted this super Pilkingtons Royal Lancastrian lustre vase. Displaying the pattern extremely well over its bulbous body it is a large and striking vase.
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Some of my favourite pieces of Troika pottery are the early and unusual smooth glazed sculptural wares in white. Simple in design and decoration yet strangely appealing. At the time only the smaller pieces from this range proved popular with collectors, along with the ever popular textured range. The larger pieces didn’t sell well possibly because of their high price tags.
Due to the unpopularity of the larger pieces fewer were made making them relatively scarce today. However I noticed a couple of these large pieces have appeared on eBay recently including this unusual double candleholder, and this large white glazed fruit bowl. Quite striking centre pieces on anyone’s dining table!
