A promising week with busy viewing attendance and a healthy level of interest came to an exciting conclusion on Wednesday evening.
The final few hours of the auction of British Contemporary Ceramics, the first in an ongoing series of Contemporary Ceramics auctions to be held by Auction Atrium, saw busy and competitive bidding across the board with an eventual 79% selling by value.
The auction saw many of the lots reaching well in excess of their top estimates, including a globular pot by Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie, which handily surpassed its pre-sale estimate of £600-800 to reach a hammer price of £1,100. Later in the evening, spirited bidding between five parties saw a small bowl by Lucie Rie fall for £850, exceeding a pre-sale estimate of £400-600. Early bidding for a teapot and small lidded box by John Maltby, estimated at £300-400, steadily rose throughout the seven day bidding period driven by competition between two eager bidders to reach a hammer price of £700. A fine example of a small vessel by Ewen Henderson was also hotly contested, eclipsing its pre-sale estimate of £500-700 to sell for £1,000.
Commenting on the sale, Marijke Varrall-Jones, consultant for the series of Contemporary Ceramics sales to be offered over the course of the coming year and beyond, said: “I am thrilled by the positive response that this new venture has generated among the many experienced collectors of British Studio Pottery, and also happy that we attracted new interested buyers to the field. This simply reinforces the fact that this continues to be a vibrant and active collecting area, and that Auction Atrium’s approach has proven to be an ideal way to reach a broad audience. We look forward to further developing the market for work from new and emerging artists at the introductory level right through to high quality examples by leading artists in contemporary ceramics.”
Sales of Contemporary Ceramics are scheduled for 16-23 September and 3-9 December, 2009.
About Auction Atrium
Auction Atrium is a London based auction house that sells fine art, antiques and collectables online. We aim to combine the integrity, expertise and customer care of the established auction houses with the dynamism, low transaction costs and versatility of the internet.
We are traditional auctioneers, with a gallery located in Kensington where sellers can take objects to be valued by our experts, and where interested buyers can inspect items for sale. We are also online auctioneers: All our lots are viewable on our website, and are bought and sold securely by online auction.
For further information or photographic material, please contact:
Alison Payne
T: +44 (0)20 7792 9020 E: [email protected]