POTTERY

[ James Lord Bowes; Japanese Art ] Two Autograph Notes in the third person consigning copies of his books (Japanese interest) to the editor of The Academy.

Author: 
James Lord Bowes (1834–1899), wealthy Liverpool wool broker, art collector and patron of the arts, author and authority on Japan and its art, and benefactor.
Publication details: 
[Printed heading, both] Japanese Consulate, Liverpool, 24 June 1890 AND 26 June 1895.
£120.00

NOTE 1: One page, 12mo, very good condition. Mr. James L. Bowes presents his compliments to the Editor of The Academy and has pleasure in forwarding for his acceptance copy of his new work on the Art of Japan entitled 'Japanese Pottery' and he ventures to draw attention to the Notes with which the volume concludes. Letter 2: Mr. Bowes presents his Compliments to the Editor of The Academy and begs to say that he has sent a Copy of his Monograph on Japanese Enamels entitled 'Notes on Shippo' for review in the Columns of his journal.

[Antique china, furniture and silverware.] Notebook containing a mixture of illustrations on silk and card, with printed and manuscript descriptions.

Author: 
[Antique china, furniture and silverware; antiques; Victorian and Edwardian collecting]
Publication details: 
[English: late Victorian or Edwardian.] In album with label on front pastedown of Hatton & Son, Law and General Stationers, Booksellers & Binders, 81 Chancery Lane, London, W.C.
£150.00

70pp, on thirty-six leaves of a worn 16.5 x 10.5 late-Victorian album, bound in black cloth. An additional seven pages at the end of the volume carry an index, divided into 'China', 'Furniture' and 'Silver Pages'. In fair condition, aged and worn. The compiler is unidentified. The first nineteen pages of the volume carry a total of thirty-six 5.5 x 3.5 cm silk labels, each with a coloured illustration of an item of porcelain (from 'Astbury' to 'Zurich'), with the manufacturer's name and marks beneath, each accompanied by a strip of paper carrying a caption printed in blue.

[ Charles Schreiber, connoisseur and Conservative Party politician. ] Autograph Letter Signed

Author: 
Charles Schreiber (1826-1884), academic, connoisseur and Conservative Party politician, husband of Lady Charlotte Guest
Publication details: 
On his monogrammed letterhead. From the Queen's Hotel, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. 12 October 1883.
£35.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. He wishes to explain the '2. things' he forgot in closing his letter of the day before: '1st. to mention that I enclosed a Cheque for £10 . 10s . 0d. in aid of yr. Fund for sending Poole Fishermen to see the Fisheries' Exhibition in London - & next that at the above Address I shd. be glad to receive the acknowledgment of my Cheque.' Pencil note in a contemporary hand at foot of last page: '2nd. Husband of Sir John Guests widow. (Sir J. G.

Deutsch Tanagra. Porzellan-Figuren des Achtzehnten Jahrhunderts gesammelt von Georg Hirth.

Author: 
Georg Hirth [auction catalogue]
Publication details: 
Munchen & Leipzig, G. Hirth's Kunstverlag. 1898.
£100.00

Quarto. Pages [xvi] + 159 + [1]. Wraps lacking. Bound in worn and frayed black cloth. Loose, and on discoloured paper, with some leaves strengthened or repaired. A particular feature of the volume is that each of the more than eight hundred lots is neatly priced in manuscript, with many of the purchasers' names given. Ownership stamp of Newman & Newman Antiques, Beauchamp Place, London, on front free endpaper.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Reg: F. Wells') from the English sculptor and potter Reginald F. Wells to 'Miss Bellis', regarding her purchase of two bronzes, and the art dealer E. J. Van Wisselingh.

Author: 
Reginald Fairfax Wells [Reginald F. Wells] (1877-1951), English sculptor and potter [Miss Bellis; Elbert Jan Van Wisselingh, Dutch art dealer with premises in London]
Publication details: 
Both from Trosley, West Malling, Kent. 22 and 25 December 1902.
£90.00

Both items in excellent condition, on lightly-aged paper. Letter One (22 December 1902): Addressed to 'Dear Sir'. He has asked Van Wisselingh 'to send the bronzes as I have none here', and he is waiting for a reply: 'if the bronzes have not arrived please wire and you shall have them before Xmas.' Letter Two (25 December 1902): He hopes that his mistake in addressing her as 'Sir' has 'amused and not annoyed you'. He has just had a reply from Van Wisselingh: 'as the notice was so short I could not get new bronzes cast by Xmas; so I sent your letter at once to Mr. V.

Autograph Letter Signed ('L. Solon') from the French potter Louis Marc Emmanuel Solon of Minton's, Stoke on Trent, thanking the unnamed recipient and his friend 'Mr Bailey' for a parcel of circulars, and discussing his library of works on ceramics.

Author: 
Louis Marc Emmanuel Solon (1825-1913), French potter, first at the Sèvres, and then with Minton's, Stoke upon Trent
Publication details: 
1 The Villas, Stoke on Trent, 8 July 1893.
£150.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Solon has been informed by their common friend 'Mr Bailey' that the recipient has 'been kind enough to gather the parcel of circulars issued at various time [sic] by your firm, and which reaches me this morning.' He is sending 'a small pamphlet of mine [...] as an inadequate acknowledgement of the trouble I have caused you'. He continues: 'Mr Bailey must have told you that all printed matter having reference to ceramics has a special interest to me.

Two Autograph Letters, one "Anonymous" the other signed, to the Bovey Coal Pottery Company

Author: 
Joseph Cottle, bookseller and publisher (of "Lyrical Ballads", etc)
Publication details: 
Bristol and Fairfield House near Bristol, 1850 and 20 Dec. 1850.
£250.00

One page and two pages, both 8vo, bifolia, some staining but text clear and complete. In the first letter to which (as he explains in the second letter) he didn't add his name, he says that he visited "your Bovey Coal Pits" as a geologist (!), made observations and concluded that it was a "real Coal district, the current coal mined [an internet site informs me of poor quality] being of a "comparatively recent formation". Real coal was produced in an earlier period.

Three different bookplates.

Author: 
Josiah Clement Wedgwood (1872-1943), 1st Baron Wedgwood, British Liberal and Labour politician
Publication details: 
[1890s to 1930s.]
£80.00

Arranging the three in what appears to be chronological order, the first (good, roughly four inches by two and three-quarters wide) has 'Josiah C. Wedgwood' in copperplate beneath a straightforward Victorian armorial design, with shield, coronet and motto 'OBSTANTIA DISCINDO'. The second (three and a half inches by three wide) dates from after Wedgwood's election as a Member of Parliament in 1906, having 'EX-LIBRIS JOSIAH C. WEDGWOOD, M.P.' on a scroll beneath a more modern armorial design, with helmet and leaves. It has slight damage to the bottom right-hand corner.

Autograph Note Signed AND Typed Letter Signed to the Secretary of the Royal Society of Arts (Menzies).

Author: 
Bernard Rackham.
Publication details: 
Victoria & Albert Museum, 5 and 20 May 1925.
£85.00

Museum Curator and Authority on Ceramics (see DNS). Total, two pages, good condition. (5 May 1925) "I have handed on your enquiry to Mr. A.J. Koop, my colleague who deals with cloisonne enamels. My own concern with enamelling is limited to painted enamels." (20 May) He expresses pleasure at being invited to judge "the designs for pottery and glass at the forthcoming competition of the Society of Arts. . ." Two items,

Ten Typed Letters/Notes Signed and One Autograph Letter Signed to G. K. Menzies, [Secretary,] Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Frank H Wedgwood [ Francis Hamilton Wedgwood; Josiah Wedgwood ]
Publication details: 
1918-26; all but one item (from 'Barlaston Lea, | Stoke-on-Trent') on Wedgwood letterhead.
£250.00

Chairman of the famous pottery firm Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, Ltd (1867-1930), and High Sheriff of Staffordshire. All items are very good, if somewhat grubby. The typed letters are one page, quarto and the autograph, one page, octavo. All are signed 'Frank H Wedgwood', and most are stamped and docketed. One letter from 1918, two from 1919, one from 1924, five from 1925 and two from 1926. Mostly brief.

Two Autograph Letters Signed and four Typed Letters Signed, two to W. Perry, three to the Secretary and one to the Vice President of the Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Honourable Josiah Wedgwood
Publication details: 
First three (all typed): 14 November, 16 and 18 December 1935, all on Wedgwood letterhead; fourth and fifth (both autograph), 13 and 18 February 1936, on letterhead 'STOKE GRANGE.STONE.STAFFS'; the sixth (typed), 1 May 1836, on Wedgwood letterhead.
£250.00

Managing Director of the famous pottery business ('saviour of the firm') and the fifth in the family to bear the name (1899-1968), Member of Parliament. All six items in good condition, though grubby, and with the first three bearing pin holes in one corner (not affecting text), the hole in the first letter being decidedly marked. All but one item docketed and stamped. Letters one, two, three and six are one page, quarto; letter four, two pages, 12mo; letter five, one page, 12mo; letter six, one page, quarto. All but the third item, which is signed 'Wedgwood', are signed 'Josiah Wedgwood'.

Autograph Postcard Signed to Roger Thornton.

Author: 
David Leach.
Publication details: 
Lowerdown Pottery, no date.
£45.00

Potter. Good condition, text as follows: "Dear Roger Thornton, / I hope the enclosed will suffice. Thank you for all the nice things you say in your letter. I will try to go on a little longer making pots as well as I know how if they really give pleasure."

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