Maine Antique Digest March 2015

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Maine Antique Digest, March 2015 27-B
- AUCTIONS -
Boston was on hand to answer
questions at the presale exhibi-
tion, and he bid for his clients on
the phone during the sale. Joan
Stacke Graham, the coauthor of
the 1989 book, said there has
not been a majolica auction with
such a variety since the Karma-
son auction in October 2005.
The highest price at the Novem-
ber sale was paid for a Minton
majolica turquoise-ground tea-
pot modeled as a flat iron with
a frieze of mice around the sides
and a large white cat wrapped
around the handle looking down
at a mouse holding a carrot. It
sold on the phone for $42,000
(est. $20,000/30,000). Flat iron
teapots in brown or cobalt-blue
have come onto the market in
recent years, but this is the only
turquoise one. Collectors want
them in every color. At the Kar-
mason sale a cobalt-blue flat iron
teapot sold for $69,000, and at
Freeman’s sale a cobalt flat iron
teapot sold together with a cobalt
creamer and sugar for $37,500
(est. $40,000/60,000). The prices
have fallen enough from the
height of the market to bring
some seasoned collectors back
into the market to fill in gaps.
Melissa Bennie at Christie’s said
Christie’s sold a flat iron teapot in
2001 for a record $94,232.
A monumental 30" high
Minton majolica Renaissance
Revival exhibition ewer on stand,
circa 1860, sold for $32,400 (est.
$20,000/30,000). The elaborate
design is by Emile Jeannest,
and it was painted and signed by
Thomas Kirkby. It has oval pan-
els painted in brown that depict
Bacchus, nymphs, and Pan.
A Minton majolica cheese
dish, circa 1876, with four mice
peeking out of a round cheese
and another mouse standing on
the lid gnawing a piece of cheese
that forms the handle, sold for
$26,400 (est. $20,000/30,000). It
A George Jones “Full Nest”
game pie dish, with a mother
partridge and her chicks on the
cover, sold for $15,000. At the
Karmason sale in 2005 the same
form, which had graced the cover
of her book, sold for $12,075,
and at the Harriman Judd sale
at Sotheby’s in January 2001, a
similar piece sold for $13,200.
There were two record prices
for their form at the November
sale. A Minton cat and mouse
pitcher, circa 1874, sold for
$20,400 (est. $6000/9000). It
comes in several variations;
sometimes it is a tabby, some-
times a ginger, and sometimes a
pure white cat. Boston said some
collectors want every version.
A very rare Krause zoomorphic
“gentleman giraffe” decanter,
circa 1890, sold for $8100,
a record for any zoomorphic
decanter.
A striking Minton majolica
butterfly plate, designed by Wil-
liam Coleman, with a turquoise
butterfly on a green leaf plate
with a daisy in the center, sold
on the phone for $5040. At the
Karmason sale a similar plate
sold for $5750.
A collector from Texas paid
$5880 for a charming butterfly
pin box made by George Jones
circa 1875 that is in perfect con-
dition. One with a professional
repair sold for $6325 at the Kar-
mason sale in 2005. Condition
matters.
Although the market showed
some strength, there were some
real buys. For example, a rare
Wedgwood fruit tray in the form
of a peacock together with a
creamer in the form of peacock
feathers sold on line for $1560
(est. $2000/4000). At Sotheby’s
on March 11, 1997, at the height
of the market, a peacock fruit
A New York collector liked a
group of Massier floral designs
and competed until he got what
he wanted. He paid $540 (est.
$800/1200) for a 9" tall pansy
clock and $420 (est. $300/500)
for four 3½" tall pansy menu
holders together with a yellow
flower. A Massier-style iris wall
pocket sold on line for $1080
(est. $1500/2000).
The group of mostly French
majolica offered at Christie’s
on November 18, 2014, in “The
Opulent Eye” sale of 19th-cen-
tury works of art sold unreserved
for modest prices.
Freeman’s in Philadelphia
offered 77 lots of English and
French Victorian majolica on
October 7, 2014, in a sale of
English and Continental furni-
ture. The majolica belonged to
Debra and Michael Coslov, Main
Line, Philadelphia, philanthro-
pists, who also collected English
furniture and were downsizing.
Freeman’s exhibited the collec-
tion in London and at its Main
Line office before the preview
at the Philadelphia salesroom
and advertised with full-page
ads in antiques publications that
illustrated game tureens, sardine
boxes, oyster plates, and a tor-
toise-form teapot and a spiky
fish teapot, all by the best mak-
ers—Minton, George Jones, and
Copeland, as well as some French
factories. They hoped it would be
a landmark sale.
The quality was good, but the
condition of some pieces was not
up to collectors’ standards, and
of the 77 lots offered, only 42
found buyers. Eight lots sold for
more than the low estimate after
the buyer’s premium was added.
Most lots that sold over estimate
were lesser examples that sold
for $2000 or less.
The highest price was $37,500
(est. $40,000/60,000) for the
Minton tea service consisting
of a cat and mouse teapot in the
form of a flat iron, with a cat
on the handle staring down at a
mouse holding a carrot on the
cover and a frieze of mice and
rosettes around its cobalt body.
Registration marks indicate it
was made in 1875. The creamer
has a squirrel on the handle,
unaware of a fox peeking out
of the side it. The same collec-
tor purchased the turquoise flat
iron teapot at Strawser. Another
teapot and creamer of the same
flat iron design, in all-white
glaze, sold to the same bidder
at Freeman’s for $2625 (est.
$2000/3000). The Minton flat
iron design is attributed to Chris-
topher Dresser, although there
is no proof, and it is still a key-
stone to any majolica collection.
Dresser did not do many designs
for majolica.
A tortoise-shaped teapot, circa
1880, with a small shell finial,
marked “Mintons” on the under-
side, sold to a phone bidder for
$25,000 (est. $25,000/35,000). A
similar teapot sold at the Straw-
ser sale for $18,600 six weeks
later. Competition apparently
had evaporated for that design
at that moment in time. A large
Minton plant trough with Classi-
cal decoration of putti and por-
trait medallions, lion heads, and
caryatids, 24" wide, sold to the
same phone bidder for $15,000
(est. $12,000/18,000). A Minton
game pie dish and cover with a
pair of rabbit heads and mallard
heads on its lid but missing its
liner, circa 1876, sold to another
phone bidder for $18,750 (est.
$20,000/30,000). One of the
same design, also missing its
liner, offered at the Strawser
sale with a $30,000/50,000 esti-
mate failed to sell, showing there
are not a lot of buyers for high-
priced majolica.
The timing of the Freeman’s
sale was unfortunate. The Straw-
ser catalog was out, so collectors
knew what they wanted, and they
saved their pennies. Moreover,
it coincided with the Majolica
International Society meeting in
New Orleans. It appears that this
very narrow section of the ceram-
ics market does best in special-
ized sales where there is a broad
range of material to attract collec-
tors and the very few dealers in
the field who compete. After 25
years of holding majolica sales,
it appears that Michael Strawser
is a driving force for the general
market, while the great rarities
of monumental proportions find
their way to big auction houses in
New York City and London.
Strawser said he plans another
fall majolica sale, again in col-
laboration with Nicolaus Boston,
who greatly improved the cata-
log. It will be held in Hatfield,
Pennsylvania. He said he hopes
the market will be ready for low-
end material to be offered in a
Friday night sale, which Straw-
ser said he used to do but did
not try for this sale. Collector
Joan Stacke Graham, always a
cheerleader for majolica and one
of the founders of the Interna-
tional Majolica Society, said, “I
think the market is beginning an
upswing. New and established
collectors competed at this
sale; it’s a good time to collect
majolica.”
For more information, go to
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The salesroom in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, was not crowded for the
Strawser sale, but the right people were there, and they bid with
gusto against bidders on the phones and the Internet and those who
left bids with the auctioneer. Solis-Cohen photo. Strawser.
Auctioneer Michael Strawser (left) from Ohio and British dealer
Nicolaus Boston masterminded the sale on November 22. Solis-Co-
hen photo.
This majolica tortoise teapot, circa
1880, with a small shell to form the
knop on the cover, the tail forming the
handle, is impressed “Mintons,” with
a registration mark for 1880. The 5" x
8½" x 4½" teapot sold for $25,000 (est.
$25,000/35,000). Freeman’s.
This Minton game pie dish and cover, circa
1876, the cover with a pair of mallard heads
and a pair of hare heads, their ears joined as
handles, is missing the liner. The basket weave
tray has rope handles. It is impressed “Min-
tons,” with a date cipher for 1876, and is
11¾" x 18" x 13". It sold for $18,750
(est. $20,000/30,000) at Freeman’s.
The one offered at the Straw-
ser sale failed to sell. All the
collectors who wanted one
apparently had one or
wanted something else
more at that moment.
The large Krause German majolica
heron decanter sold for $3960. The
small one sold on the Internet for
$2400. At the Karmason sale in 2005,
dealer Charles Washburne paid $6440
for a large heron decanter. Solis-Cohen
photo. Strawser.
is impressed “Minton,” with the
date cipher for 1876. Only three
other examples are known.
tray sold for $6900.
The all-time record for a single
piece of majolica is $156,256,
for the life-size Minton peacock
that is included in the Victorian
sculpture exhibition. It sold in
February 1998 at Christie’s,
London. Boston said a pair of
large blackamoor candelabra
sold in London in July 2002 for
more than $200,000.
This spiky fish teapot, circa 1878, modeled as
a blue fish with a spiky fin as the handle for the
cover, a brown spout in the fish’s mouth, a sprig
of seaweed for the handle, sold for $5120 (est.
$6000/8000). At the Karmason sale in 2005, a
spiky fish teapot sold for $8625. Freeman’s.