Decorative Art

The National Army Museum’s exhibition, Drawn on the Western Front, showcases a series of recent works on paper acquisitions as well as its new medals partnership with Lord Ashcroft.

Beatrix Potter was a pioneer of character merchandising. Two years after the publication of the first of her ‘little books’ she designed, fabricated and patented her own Peter Rabbit stuffed toy in 1903 – making him the first ever licensed character.*

Cross collecting helps plate from Washington’s Order of the Cincinatti service to take a six-figure price

A sale of Meissen at Revere Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) held in St Paul, Minnesota, included some prized pieces.

The 18th annual sale presented by Perfume Bottles Auction (20/25% buyer’s premium) took place on May 2. The online auction, conducted in New York by Ken Leach, served as the finale of the 2026 convention of the International Perfume Bottle Association (IFBA).

In 1862, just a year after the founding of the Morris, Marshall & Faulkner Company at Red Lion Square, a circular was sent to prospective clients to announce the ‘revival of the art of painting on china tiles’.

New England Auctions – Fred Giampietro (26% buyer’s premium) of Branford, Connecticut, continues to win big with leech jars from the collection of the late Dr Jerry Phelps (1935-2025), an anesthesiologist from Kentucky.

A pair of William De Morgan ruby lustre four tile panels depicting galleons in full sail with fish swimming in sea sold for a top estimate £6000 at Martel Maides (20% buyer’s premium) in St Peter Port, Guernsey.

Two small single-owner collections of Martin Brothers stoneware were offered in June: one at Catherine Southon (27.6% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Chislehurst, Kent, on June 17, the other as part of the Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium) June 25 sale in Sherborne, Dorset.

Items from the collection of architect Christopher Smallwood (1937-2024) were offered for sale at Dreweatts on May 13.

A triple-faced owl vase by the Zsolnay factory hammered for $9000 (£6610) at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium).

Exhibitors selling to other traders, alongside decorators and private buyers, is a key feature of The Decorative Fair in Battersea.

Items associated with the White Star Line, the British shipping company that built its global brand on unmatched passenger comfort, continue to thrive at auction.

Banker and businessman Jörg Woltmann, who rescued the Berlin porcelain manufacturer, now also acquires a huge vase by the firm.

Each June, a familiar circuit of selling exhibitions draws collectors, dealers and specialists in porcelain and ceramics to London.