Auction No. 3
30 May 2009
Will Farmer of Fieldings Auctioneers,
Stourbridge, Great Britain
I realised the other day that we are a year since
sale No 1, the “Clarice in Context” exhibition and the convention! As Doreen
noted………”what a year!” Who’d have thought so much could have happened
in just twelve short months.
During this time Clarice has truly become part
of my life again! When I sold my own collection back in 1996 I thought
‘that was it’ for Miss Cliff and I. I knew I would always love her but
I didn’t really think that I’d ever be able to return to her work, let
alone collect again, or better still create specialist sales!
However look now! Stamford tea sets on the Antiques
Roadshow, May Avenue chargers from under ping pong tables, tea sets from
Amsterdam, and requests for assistance from all over the world! My business
partner Nick commented the other day that I was becoming some sort of Clarice
magnet which I thought was wonderful! Looking up the meaning of a magnet
I found the following…“A magnet is an object that produces a magnetic field
which is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of
a magnet: a force that pulls on other magnetic materials and attracts them”
I think that together we have all found a new magnetism
which has created a new buzz in the Clarice world. There seems to be genuine
excitement amongst us all, and in times of “depression” it’s nice to know
that Clarice can keep us upbeat, confident and positive!
As an auctioneer you can get quite protective of
a sale! It’s like nursing a newborn into the world! After weeks and weeks
of phone calls, long distance journeys, packing crates and bubble wrap
you return to dig in and get the job started! The early mornings, late
nights and weekend phone calls between myself, Len, Doreen and Peter T
have resulted in what I believe is our best catalogue yet. The notes and
foreword were brilliantly executed by the team and I for one am so excited
to see the return of a printed newsletter within the catalogue. The hard
work of everyone involved has created something more than a sales catalogue;
it’s a mini-book which I hope will serve you all in some way or another,
be it a little unknown fact or just pages of images to return to.
As your catalogues begin to arrive I thought it
appropriate to share with you a few of my favourite pieces. Following my
last two reports I think it goes without saying that I just love the May
Ave charger! (Oh, to have the money!) And my red Trees & House tea
set adventure remains one of my most fun escapades to date.
There are a few more pieces, however, which I personally
love, some of which are obvious (to those who know me) and some which have
surprised me!
The Sunspots cauldron is a top lot. I have never
understood the attraction personally, as I cant get on with the combination
of colours. Give me Café any day of the week! However, on seeing
this piece for the first time I realised that you know a great piece of
Clarice when you see one. The decoration is packed across this little pot
and just works brilliantly!
The Latona Dahlia Box shows how the decorators
thought carefully about the work they were executing, the way that the
pattern wraps over the lid and down the base gives it so much impact, and
the colours are just an amazing combination.
Finally there is a little trio of conical sifters
which despite a few problems when placed together are just magic! The Mountain,
Gibraltar and Summerhouse line up to create a brilliant landscape group!
  
There are so many more that I love, and over the
coming couple of weeks I’ll provide a few more stories about my adventures
creating sale number 3.
I hope you have as much fun reading the catalogue
as I had making it.
All the best - Will
will@fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk
Tel – 01384 444140
Will Farmer was a CCCC member
(and our youngest ever!) in the early 1990s. and will be contributing articles
of academic interest in the Clarion for members.
|
