Antiques & Potteries Specialisms

Antiques and potteries are our specialist subject matter at auction and we always know which items will fetch a good price at auction.  You can also find out more on our specialist potteries page for examples of interesting lots sold at auction.

Get in touch if you have similar or unusual items that need a valuation.

The Life Of The Barlow Sisters Of Royal Doulton

The Life of The Barlow Sisters, Pottery Artists Pictured centre, Hannah Bolton Barlow (1851-1916) and pictured right, Florence Elizabeth (Birdie) Barlow (1855-1909) Two famous Lambeth School Of Art artists, Hannah and Florence Barlow, worked for Doulton in the 1870s painting pottery for Doulton at their factory in Lambeth. Hannah and her sister Florence were two of nine children born to Benjamin Barlow, …

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Susie Cooper

The Life Of Susie Cooper, Ceramicist Susie Cooper was a local lady, born in October 1902 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. Susie was the youngest of seven children and from an early age she was a child with artistic flair who developed an interest in drawing. She began her art education at the Burslem School of Art where …

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A Brief History Of Royal Crown Derby

A Brief History Of Royal Crown Derby Royal Crown Derby is one of the oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturers, and is based fairly locally to Potteries Auctions in Osmaston Road, Derby. The company is known for its high-quality bone china and has been producing items of tableware and ornamental ware since 1750. Lots 475 & …

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Ceramic Furniture Rests

CERAMIC FURNITURE RESTS Potteries Auctions have received approximately 160 furniture rests for our next Antiques, Rare Pottery & Fine Art Auction to be held on 14th July 2018. Ceramic furniture rests were made in large numbers in Staffordshire, the North of England and Scotland in the late 18th Century, early 19th Century.  Evidence of dates of manufacture is …

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Andrew Hull

 Andrew Hull is a freelance artist, designer and sculptor, who has worked in the industry for the past 19 years.  Andrew has worked on a wide range of subjects and created several successful ranges for retail and collectors worldwide.  The ranges have varied from wildlife to fantasy and caricatured characters. Andrew attended Loughborough College of …

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Local Miner wins National Welsh Eisteddfod

To the west of Tunstall lies the mines ‘Talk- o’th Hill’ and this was where James Whewall grew up in his youth. He became a choir master for the Wesleyan chapel and there he founded a juvenile choir for competiting in local singing competitions. James Whewall choir took first prize. Talke juvenile choir went from …

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Kobe Dolls

KOBE DOLLS Kobe Dolls are the name given to mechanical wooden dolls unique to Kobe, Japan.  They were once as well-known as the port itself.  The Kobe Dolls were produced from the mid-Meiji era (ca. 1890) until about 1920, and sold at souvenir shops on Motomachi Shopping Street and near Nunobiki Waterfall where tourists gathered.  …

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Shelley Pottery

SHELLEY POTTERY Shelley Potteries, situated in Staffordshire, was earlier known as Wileman & Co. which had also traded as The Foley Potteries. The first Shelley to join the company was Joseph Ball Shelley in 1862 and remained a Shelley family business until 1966 when it was taken over by Allied English Potteries.  In 1881 Joseph …

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PORTER REQUIRED

We are currently looking for the right person for the role of Head Porter If you are organised with good attention to detail, confident working on your own initiative with previous auction house experience then we could have the career for you. Candidates should have good computer, numerical and verbal skills but most importantly, good people …

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January Roundup

On Saturday 13th Jan we held the first auction of the year with 1100 of the most eclectic selection of lots to date! The first one hundred plus lots consisted of despatch returned goods, unclaimed items and catalogue returned lots, some of which were, to add a sense of eager anticipation, still in sealed boxes! This …

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WH Goss

WH GOSS Goss crested china is typically in the form of small white glazed porcelain models, made from 1858 to 1939, carrying the coat of arms of the place where they were sold as souvenirs, thus being a form of heraldic china. Other factories, including Carlton, Shelley and Arcadian, also made souvenir ware but Goss is still …

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Another snippet of local interest…

APEDALE HALL was a manor house near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, it was rebuilt in 1826 by the Heathcote family in the Elizabethan style by Richard Edensor Heathcote.  The building was demolished in 1934, due to subsidence from the coal mines underneath.  Richard Edensor Heathcote (1780 – 1850) was a British Industrialist.  Born the son of Sir John Edensor Heathcote …

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Toys

TOYS  A toy is an item that is used in play. Playing with toys can be an enjoyable means of training young children for life in society. Different materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make toys. Many items are designed to serve as toys, but goods produced for other purposes can also be …

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November News

The Antiques, Rare Pottery & Fine Art Auction on 11th and 12th of November created quite a stir amongst collectors due to the interesting and eclectic range of lots on offer. 1600 lots went under the hammer over the weekend kicking off with 700 lots of pottery and ceramics. The sale commenced with tea and dinnerware with …

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Royal Doulton Character Jugs

ROYAL DOULTON CHARACTER JUGS We have received a consignment of large Royal Doulton Character Jugs from the series ‘Great Military Leaders’ and ‘First World War Military Leaders’. We are sure that any Character Jug collector would be interested in these limited edition jugs that were issued in 2005 and 2007.  Designed by Caroline Dadd and …

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Potteries Auctions Sale Catalogue is now online for our August 12th Sale. Some of the good quality furniture items that will be on sale on Saturday August 12th 2017.   Lot 111 – Early 20th Century glass fronted display cabinet with green silk lining. Lot 115 – Edwardian Mahogany Carlton House Style writing desk, one small desk …

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Optics on view in our August 12th Sale

OPTICS Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it.  Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. Because light is an electromagnetic wave, other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays, microwaves and radio waves, …

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Pâte-sur-Pâte

PATE-SUR-PATE Pâte-sur-pâte is a French term which means “paste on paste”.  It is a method of porcelain decoration in which a relief design is created on an unfired, unglazed body by applying successive layers of white slip (liquid clay) with a brush.   The development of pâte-sur-pâte dates back to 1850 in France, at the Sevres …

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Are you looking to sell your collection?

We are currently looking for entries for our Antiques and Fine Art Auction on November 11th.  If you have any quality items you would like in this sale please bring them to our Silverdale Saleroom before 29th September. Do you have any of the following? Asian Art and Oriental Pottery, Clocks, Watches, Coins, Jewellery, Militaria, Books, …

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Jack Simcock

JACK SIMCOCK Jack Simcock was born on 6th June 1929 to a mining family in Biddulph, Saffordshire and studied at Burslem School of Art.  He is best known for “a long series of bleak, sombre oils on board” of the Mow Cop area in which he lived for much of his life. Reginald Haggar, also …

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June Auction Highlights!

Our largest auction of the year took place over the weekend of the 10th and 11th June. Over 1600 lots of rare pottery, antiques, fine art, militaria, jewellery and collectors items were sold over the two days.  On day one just under 900 lots of ceramics went under the hammer. The auction commenced at 10am with the …

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We measure up . . .

ANTIQUE, RARE POTTERY & FINE ART SALE, Held on Saturday 10th June 2017. One of the Top 25 Highest Selling Lots was Lot 294, a set of seven early graduated bronze imperial measures for the County of Worcester comprising Imperial Gallon to Imperial Half Gill, each stamped VR and ER.  Sale Price £3,700.00. A lady …

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CIGARETTE CARDS

Cigarette cards are trade cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. In 1875, cards depicting actresses, baseball players, Indian chiefs, and boxers were issued by the U.S. based Allen and Ginter tobacco company. These are considered to be some of the first cigarette cards. Other tobacco companies such as Goodwin & Co soon followed suit. In …

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Model Railways

Toy trains are for children of all ages! The first railway sets were made by Marklin in Germany in 1891, but it was a group of English hobbyists who in 1904 began model building.  The first electric models were introduced just before WWI.  Rovex Plastics Ltd founded by Alexander Gregory Vanetzian developed an electric toy …

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Behind the Print…

Behind the print …. It was just another day at the Potteries Auctions Saleroom, we received a consignment of items for the next general sale and discovered amongst the items there was an ordinary old print of Babbacombe Bay, Torquay, signed by C White, but it is what is on the back of the frame …

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