Royal Worcester brings high prices at the sale of in Ken and Gloria Ely’s collection

By Richard Brewster, on 03-Mar-2023

There was plenty of interest in Ken and Gloria Ely’s world-renowned collection of works by the English porcelain manufacturer at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions February 27-28 sale.  At $20,000 hammer price and more than three times the catalogue estimate, the top selling item was a signed 1912 William Hawkins porcelain plaque (Lot 14 ). Painted after Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier’s “The Print Collector”, on the back was a label with the title and place of purchase ‘Royal Worcester Factory for 25 pounds in 1917’. The original is part of London’s Wallace Collection.

<p>At $20,000 hammer price and more than three times the catalogue estimate, the top selling item was a signed 1912 Royal Worcester porcelain plaque painted by William Hawkins, after Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Print Collector&rdquo;,</p>

At $20,000 hammer price and more than three times the catalogue estimate, the top selling item was a signed 1912 Royal Worcester porcelain plaque painted by William Hawkins, after Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier’s “The Print Collector”,

Once a successful jockey and then the former head of Dimplex Australia, Ken is now 97 and was keen to allow others to enjoy to savour the collecting joy that he and Gloria (now deceased) have felt over the years.
And collectors have not let him down with most of the 403 items offered over the two-day sale, which comprised both Royal Worcester plaques and vases by leading company artists and decorative lamps by such notables as Gabriel Argy-Rousseau (1885-1953), Emile Galle (1846-1904) and Amalric Walter (1870-1959) going under the hammer.
A fine two-handled 1910 signed Harry Davis Royal Worcester vase (Lot 39 ) was a lucky $16,000 purchase – while a mixed pair of 1907 covered vases by John Stinton and Davis (Lot 41 ) brought $15,000, both more than twice the catalogue estimate.
Another Harry Davis creation – this time a 1924 covered potpourri (Lot 64 ) – was knocked down for $13,000, and one of his 1925 dated plaques, featuring piglets at a feed trough (Lot 6 ), bringing $12,000.
Pigs are a rare Royal Worcester subject and Davis was the only artist allowed to paint them. Most of his surviving examples are dated the same year and, based on sketches he made during a single visit to a farm, show the same composition.
Lot 29, a 1926 porcelain plaque by John Stinton features highland cattle beside a Scottish highland valley loch, sold for $11,000.
Emile Galle featured with a cameo glass light (Lot 338 ), that brought $8000 – the same as a pair of 1919 John Stinton potpourri vases (Lot 44 ).
Other highlights included Argy-Rousseau’s ‘The Prairie’ night light (Lot 220 ) for $7000, a 1925 C. Johnson porcelain plaque (lot 12 - $6500) and Jan Hendrik Scheltema’s Droving Cattle in the Morning Light (lot 308 - $6000).

 

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About The Author

Richard Brewster has been writing about the antiques and art auction industry for almost 20 years, first in a regular weekly column for Fairfax's The Age newspaper and also in more recent times for his own website Australian Auction Review. With 45 years experience as a journalist and public relations consultant, in 1990 Richard established his own business Brewster & Associates in Melbourne, handling a wide range of clients in the building, financial, antiques and art auction industries.