DUKE'S OF DORCHESTER JOHN WARD, LIZ FRITSCH

https://app.dukes-auctions.com/en/auction/1097-art-design-post-1880?page=15&per_page=20

Yonks ago there were the snobbishly superior London Auctioneers. Then the Provincial auctioneers, which always seemed such a derogatory term!   So, in the Internet age. Is there any difference in prices fetched by provincial auctioneers now?. The link above is to the pottery section of the auction. Two black John Ward, Lucie Rie, and Liz Fritsch amidst others. Standard 'Design' (where did that title come from !) auction. Question being? Does the auctioneers location effect the price?  Dreweatt Neate near Newbury got some choice prices for John Ward last year. Maak of course being near Reading.

In certain cases it does matter, the Dreweatte and Neate sale was well advertised every where and a video was made of the collection and providing enough publicity surrounds the goods it doesn't really matter where it's sold but in the case of Dukes i think the estimates are rather punchy and i would imagine MAAK and others would have probably refused them at these estimates. I would certainly only use rooms with a good track record if i were to sell high priced items. MAAK for instance have made a short video of the current sale with information on the owners, all this helps i think.

The Fritsch at £10,000 £20,000 also has a fairly high estimate. I wonder what the owners agreement with the auctioneers was? There is also Black and white one of near identical design, but less than half the size, in the Lyon and Turnbull sale.

With MAAK just a little down the road i would imagine these items have been hawked around , although it's possible that the Ward piece could make it's estimate ,i think MAAK and Lyon and Turnbull like to have lower estimates even though they know that the goods will fetch the market price. I particularly like the ochre striped Ward pot in Lyon and Turnbull's.

I'm more intersted in what the triple lustre William de Morgan tiles do at Dukes, though I wonder if the large no. of them will affect prices.

I was also looking at those those tiles - Fabulous. But well out of reach for my pocket!

These tiles are really amazing and have a good provenance, there seems to be a small group of very determined collectors operating in this niche area that are forever driving the prices up, i remember a few years back when a triple lustre example fetched over £4000 when us De Morgan collectors were amazed. De Morgan has had it's ups and downs over the years but now seems to be very desirable in comparison to many other art potteries. This volume of triple lustre tiles have never been offered before so it will be interesting too see the take up.

The two black John Ward did not sell, the Fritsch at bottom estimate of £10,000. The superb De Morgan tiles have sold very well.

The reserves were just too ambitious and predictably failed and apart from the Ward pieces the Lucie Rie was also unsold. The De Morgan tiles in triple lustre have been selling well within this £2000-£4000 price range for a number of years and the market is fairly strong at the moment for all De Morgan wares.

It seems that Lucie Rie is rather going out of fashion for a good deal of her work. As prices are certainly down on everything but the pretty bowls.

Yes i have noticed that with Lucie Rie , i think much of her more 'ordinary' wares have been overpriced for some time and perhaps there is a sign of readjustment in the market place.