Take a look at some of the sale highlights that fetched a good price at our March Fine Art sale, including a large selection of rare British pottery, coins, art and more.

These gorgeous William Moorcroft vases were very popular at our March Fine Art auction. (L-R) Lot 1100 is a Moorcroft flambe vase in the fish design that sold for an outstanding £4,100, Lot 1011 is a Moorcroft squat vase in the Claremont design that sold for £2400, and Lot 1099 is a Moorcroft vase in the pomegranate design that sold for £2000.

The first Louis Taylor Fine Art sale of 2022 took place this month on Thursday 10^th, Friday 11^th and Saturday 12^th March and featured an exciting array of items, from rare coins and art pieces to a very large assortment of rare British pottery and more.

Plenty of lots from our Fine Art auction live from the Silverdale Saleroom sold for a good price, so check out some of the highlights from our most recent auction below. Who knows? Maybe they’ll provide some inspiration if you have a valuation in mind.

The top selling lot and star of this month’s Fine Art auction was this 1937 George VI gold proof four coin specimen set. Comprising of a five pound coin, double sovereign, sovereign and half sovereign in their original tooled leather fitted case, only around 5000 of these sets exist. It sold for a whopping £10,200!

This cased 22ct gold limited edition Winston Churchill medallion 222/500 generated a hammer price of an incredible £4,200.

Lot 1267 is an original signed print 28/75 of L S Lowry ‘Tree in a Square’ that sold for an astounding £6,200 this past weekend.

As always, pottery pieces proved very popular at auction this month and we saw a large quantity of rare pottery, including vases, jugs and figurines from famous names such as Royal Doulton, Royal Worcester and Moorcroft, pass through our saleroom and fetch some amazing prices. Check out some of the best performing lots below.

Lot 380 is a rare Doulton & Co double figure "Spooks" HN88 in a green Titanian type glaze with green and black caps, signed By C J Noke and marked no 1. This special piece ultimately sold for an incredible £5,300!

Royal Doulton character jugs always pique our customers interest at our Silverdale saleroom, and these Old Hollywood prototype character jugs were no exception. (L-R) This Royal Doulton large prototype Marilyn Monroe character jug sold for £3,100, while the intermediate prototype John Wayne and Marlon Brando character jugs sold for £2,000 and £1,900 each, respectively. They were designed in 2005 for the Celebrity Film Star Collection but never put into production.

Lot 599 is a superb pair of large Doulton Lambeth Stoneware vases by Hannah Barlow and Lucy Barlow; one decorated with horses with haycart and the other with horses and donkey. They sold together for a very respectable £1,700.

These absolutely stunning hand painted Royal Worcester two-handled gilded vases sold for between £2,500-£3,000 each!

How to Sell at Auction with Louis Taylor

If you have items for auction, get in touch and we can help you with a valuation. Talk to our team of experts who will be able to give you an accurate auction estimate on a range of items, from household goods to antiques. You can join us at one of our valuation days, email us for an appointment at auctions@louistaylorfineart.co.uk or call us on +44 (0)1782 638100 Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.

With our next Fine Art sale soon approaching on March 11th, we’d like to showcase some of our best results from our previous Fine Art sale from this past November.

With our next Fine Art sale soon approaching on March 11^th, we’d like to showcase some of our best results from our previous Fine Art sale from this past November to show you the areas that did the best, as well as showcasing some of our favourite and bestselling lots!

Read on as we cover jewellery, silverware, coins and watches – four categories which are huge areas of our sales, with constant interest from collectors.

Jewellery

We’re constantly looking at jewellery from many vendors, as its worth is always in question if you don’t know what to look for. Thankfully, here at Potteries Auctions, we have specialists that can tell you exactly what you have. Costume jewellery is an area which can really have some hidden worth. Despite it being typically made of inexpensive material and simulated gemstones to emulate that of the real thing, it's not unusual for some to be big sellers at our sales! That being said, let's look at some of the bestselling pieces from our last Fine Art sale.

Firstly, we have an 18ct gold ring set with tanzanite and diamonds, which sold in total for £372. This is a lovely piece which has a great example of good bright diamonds in a ring, making it quite desirable!

This large fine quality ruby and diamond brooch, set with 20 diamonds and 18 rubies, sold in total for £682!

Lastly, lot 1606, a heavy gold chain with overseas distinct marks, was one of our bestselling pieces of jewellery from the entire sale! Simple yet quality, it went under the hammer for a total sale price of £2480.

Coins

Coins play a big part in our auctions, mainly in the form of sovereigns. Still today there is a huge market for collectors that are after many amazing pieces from various periods of time. Just because a coin is old, doesn’t mean that it’s valuable. We get many enquiries about various coins all over the world, but our biggest sellers are always sovereigns. Let's look at some of the best pieces from last November.

Lot 1451, a George V full Sovereign dated 1925 with an SA mint mark, is a perfect example of a collectable coin. In sold in total for £348!

Next we have Lot 1466, a full gold sovereign dated 1910 in its own mount. Weighing in at 13.3g, it’s certainly a lovely piece which ultimately sold for £372.

Lot 1465 was a full set of Britannia fine Gold 4 coins, dated 1987, with the original purchase receipt, and in original Royal mint plastic cases. A fantastic set, selling in total for £2480!

Silver

It’s no secret that silver has a very big market. It’s worth is down to many reasons, the simplest being its shiny and desirable look in pieces of jewellery and silverware, but its use as a conductor contributed to its expense. Along with other rare metals such as gold, it’s easy to overlook how important and popular silver is in the world! Let’s look at some of the best sellers from the last sale.

Lot 1549 was a two handled silver vase featuring lions head handles, hallmarked for London in 1922. This is a gorgeous piece which is very of the time, and unfortunately we don’t see many pieces like this still being made today! This lot sold for a total of £893.

Lot 1569 was a four piece silver decorative coffee set, hallmarked for Sheffield 1972, featuring wooden handles to coffee and water pot. Weighing in at a total of 2131g,this is a lovely set which sold in total for £992.

This pair of rare William III silver candlesticks was a real star of the sale, down to their rarity, fantastic condition and their worth. This lot sold for an incredible £7440!

Watches

Although a form of jewellery, watches have a different element of practicality down to their timekeeping ability. This involves incredibly intricate craftsmanship due to watch mechanics. Combine that with the expensive materials often used during construction, it makes for some very valuable pieces! Let’s look at the final area we’ll be looking at in this article.

Lot 1505 was an 18ct gold mid-size half Hunter keyless pocket watch. It wasn’t in working order, and was also missing glass and a clock hand, but despite this there was plenty of interest due to the material and craftsmanship. It went on to sell for a total of £967.

Finally, lot 1510 was a Patek Philippe 18ct gold ladies wristwatch. It weighed in at 95g and featured an 18ct bracelet, diamond hour markers to dial, a receipt for purchase in 2004 and receipt for purchase in 2011 with original box, spare links and an insurance valuation for £17000. A truly fantastic piece in great condition, this was one of our bestsellers for the entire sale, selling for a grand total of £8556!

Our March Fine Art Sale

The next Louis Taylor Fine Art sale is on 11th March 2022. If you have any items you think might be worth something, call us on 01782 638100 to make an appointment for a weekly free valuation day every Tuesday and let’s see if we can get some of the same results you’ve read about today.

Reginald Haggar was a British artist that worked as a ceramic designer and later a teacher in Staffordshire, before becoming a full time artist. Find out more about his life and what is believed to be his final creation as part of our Fine Art sale.

Reginald George Haggar (1905–1988) was a British artist that worked as a ceramic designer and later a teacher in The Potteries, before becoming a full time artist. Find out more about his life, as well as what is believed to be Haggar’s final creation coming up at auction as part of our November Fine Art sale.

Reginald George Haggar was born in Ipswich in 1905 to parents Ernest Edward Haggar and Jane Thirza née Kidby. Studying at Ipswich School of Art and then later at the famed Royal College of Art, it wasn’t long before he made his mark in the ceramics industry, when he moved to Stoke-on-Trent in 1929 to pursue the job of assistant designer at Minton's pottery. Haggar quickly worked his way up the ladder, becoming the art director within 6 months of working there. He held this position with Minton’s pottery for a decade until leaving in 1939.

After leaving his position as art director at Mintons, he followed a route of education by becoming the Master-in-Charge of Stoke School of Art until 1941, and then moving to Burslem School of Art until 1945. After his bout in education, he prioritised his art by focusing more on freelance work by becoming a full time artist, but also following routes in work such as a pottery researcher and an author specialising in English pottery, as well as many other subjects. It was at this point in career that people started to really notice and appreciate his talents as he created some of his most well-known pieces. Utilising watercolour and ceramics, he was heavily influenced by the Art Deco movement throughout his works.

Haggar made a great impact on history of art through Staffordshire, through the medium of painting and ceramics, but also he founded the Society of Staffordshire Artists in 1943, and served as president from 1945 until 1977. As well as this, he also set up the North Staffordshire Watercolour group in 1966 - both of which are still active today.

We had the privilege at Louis Taylor of auctioning what we believe to be Haggar’s final creation at our November 2021 Fine Art sale. The drawing was created in August 1988, while he resided in his care home in Wetley Rocks, and was paired together with the very easel he drew the piece on. It was given to the vendor, who worked at the same care home at the time. The piece reflects the point in his life, whilst maintaining his signature aesthetic of bottlescapes, even through such a minimal sketch.

This was the perfect chance to own an intimate piece from such an important local artist, and it ultimately found a new home for a hammer price of £150.

How to Sell at Auction with Louis Taylor

We often sell local items from around Staffordshire here at Louis Taylor that pique plenty of local collectors’ interest, and are looking to accept more into our future sales.

If you have local interest items for auction, get in touch and we can help you with a valuation. Talk to our team of experts who will be able to give you an accurate auction estimate on a range of items, from household goods to antiques. You can join us at one of our valuation days, email us for an appointment at auctions@louistaylorfineart.co.uk or call us on +44 (0)1782 638100 Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.  

This graffiti tribute to the Stoke-On-Trent hero, Gordon Banks, by local artist 'Professor Pigment', was the star of our July 2019 Fine Art sale.

If you're local to Stoke-On-Trent, you may be familiar with the various pieces of Banksy-style graffiti that’s scattered around the area, like the yellow 'Fancy an oatcake?' rubber duck.

The artist 'Professor Pigment', also known as ProPig, uses his art to celebrate Stoke and to inspire others to be proud of where they come from. In 2016, after the premiere at Staffordshire University of his debut film 'Trial and Error', Professor Pigment surprised the audience by revealing his identity. He revealed that his real name is Andy Evans, 21 years old at the time, and had been a graphic design graduate at Staffordshire University. Andy now works under the new name of 'Doddz' in Manchester.

We were lucky enough to have one of Andy's pieces in our July 2019 Fine Art sale, which ultimately sold for a very respectable £180. The piece, named 'Banksy', pays tribute to the late England and Stoke City goalkeeper, Gordon Banks OBE. Banks sadly passed away on February 12^th 2019 at the age of 81. Many fans paid tribute to the local football hero at Stokes Bet 365 stadium.

How to Sell at Auction with Louis Taylor

We often sell local items from around Staffordshire here at Louis Taylor that pique plenty of local collectors’ interest, and are looking to accept more into our future sales.

If you have local interest items for auction, get in touch and we can help you with a valuation. Talk to our team of experts who will be able to give you an accurate auction estimate on a range of items, from household goods to antiques. You can join us at one of our valuation days, email us for an appointment at auctions@louistaylorfineart.co.uk or call us on +44 (0)1782 638100 Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.