Ceramic Collectors Society

Ceramic Collectors Society We are an Australian group of ceramic art collectors, founded in Sydney in 1949.

Cup and saucer from ‘The Fagan Service’, 1830-1833. Marked Copeland & Garrett and Spode on the bottom of the cup. 15cm-d...
15/06/2026

Cup and saucer from ‘The Fagan Service’, 1830-1833. Marked Copeland & Garrett and Spode on the bottom of the cup. 15cm-diameter saucer. Private collection.

Copeland & Garrett was a British ceramics manufacturer that was active from 1833 to 1847. The company was founded by William Taylor Copeland and William Garrett.

During the period 1830 – 1833, Major General Christopher Sullivan Fagan ordered three services from the Spode factory: a blue and white earthenware breakfast service, a bone china dinner service, and a bone china tea and coffee service. All three services featured Spode's "Dresden Border", a stylised lambrequin design usually transfer-printed in blue, however on the tea, coffee and dinner services, the "Dresden Border" is a decidedly spectacular gold!

Major General Christopher Sullivan Fagan (1781-1843), rose to high rank in the Honourable East India Company.

The amorial arms shown on the cup and saucer are for ‘Fagan impaling Baldock and Moule’, commemorating the two marriages of the General to a Miss Baldrick and then later to Miss Moule! The Fagan family were historically important and wealthy Dublin Merchants in Ireland.

This wonderful cup is part of the current ceramics display at the Etruria Antiques Gallery in central Melbourne. This highly regarded commercial premises is one destination on the Ceramic Collectors Society programme in our multi-day visit to Melbourne from the 11th-to 15th of September 2026. We will be hosted by the owner on the Saturday evening for welcome drinks and an ‘inside’ tour.

Credit: Etruria Antiques Gallery photographs.

‘Neptune with dolphin’, and ‘Ceres (or possibly Cybele) with lion and cornucopia of bounty’. 24cm-high.Two hand‑painted,...
15/06/2026

‘Neptune with dolphin’, and ‘Ceres (or possibly Cybele) with lion and cornucopia of bounty’. 24cm-high.

Two hand‑painted, press‑moulded porcelain figure groups with gilt and applied flowers raised on a pierced high set Rococo base, unmarked. Bow factory, England. Circa 1760 1775. Geelong Gallery collection, Geelong, Victoria.

Being press-moulded, they are far heavier than the hollow- slip moulded figures made in the majority of British factories at the time. The porcelain is chalky white and has a slight grainy texture to touch.

The Bow porcelain factory (active from circa 1747 and closed in 1776) was an arch rival of the Chelsea porcelain factory in the manufacture of high quality and lavishly decorated porcelain pieces. Bow manufactured a wide range of figure groups like these in different styles and poses depicting classical personalities.

The multi-day September visit by the Ceramic Collectors Society to Melbourne will include an excursion to Geelong and its namesake art gallery on its itinerary, where the paintings are rivalled by ceramics!

Credit: Geelong Gallery photographs and collection pieces.

‘Soft-paste porcelain Crocus pot and cover’, Barr, Flight and Barr, England. 1804-1807. Height 14-centimetres. National ...
13/06/2026

‘Soft-paste porcelain Crocus pot and cover’, Barr, Flight and Barr, England. 1804-1807. Height 14-centimetres. National Trust collection at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, England.

This commode-shaped pot would have held Grocus flower bulbs in three inserts and was designed to fill a room within a grand house with pleasant aromas. Water would feed the stems from inside the pot.

Crocuses are small, cup-shaped flowers in the iris family that bloom in early spring or autumn. They herald a change in the Seasons.

It is part of a five-piece ‘garniture de cheminée’ or garniture made by the highly regarded Bar, Flight and Barr factory as a bespoke commission for a client.

The pot is painted with enamel colours and gilding on a grey-marbled ground showing landscape views.

"Every piece a testament to craftsmanship and history."Discover. Explore. Experience.The Sydney AAADA Antiques & Decorat...
13/06/2026

"Every piece a testament to craftsmanship and history."

Discover. Explore. Experience.

The Sydney AAADA Antiques & Decorative Arts Fair Sydney returns to Paddington Town Hall in Sydney from the 5th to the 8th of November 2026.

aaada.org.au/sydney

Discover pieces for purchase, enjoy talks, guided tours, free appraisals, and visit the Ceramic Collectors Society table for the real deal!

‘Pair of Early 20th-Century glazed earthenware Japanese Satsuma-style Moriage Vases with Samurai and Cherry Blossom Deco...
13/06/2026

‘Pair of Early 20th-Century glazed earthenware Japanese Satsuma-style Moriage Vases with Samurai and Cherry Blossom Decoration’, Japan. Circa 1920s to 1930s. 19cm-high. Private collection in Australia.

A decorative pair of early 20th-century Japanese Satsuma-style moriage vases from the late Taisho to early Showa period. They are hand-painted in blue, cream, pink, green, and burgundy showing traditional images of samurai figures and stylised cherry blossom trees. The vases feature finely raised enamel detailing, gilt highlights and deep cobalt-blue glazed borders, creating an attractive contrast with the softly crackled ground.

Each vase is decorated on one side with an armoured samurai figure in richly detailed robes and on the reverse with a blossoming tree landscape. The applied moriage dots and raised enamel accents add texture across the floral, landscape and figural decoration. Handwritten red workshop or production marks are visible on the bases.

These are Japanese Satsuma-style export ware manufactured destined for the Western market before the Second World War.

“Garnitures de cheminée (‘ornaments for a chimney’).”Tin-glazed earthenware ‘Garniture’ set of two vases and one larger ...
13/06/2026

“Garnitures de cheminée (‘ornaments for a chimney’).”

Tin-glazed earthenware ‘Garniture’ set of two vases and one larger covered vase. Delft, Holland. Unknown maker, imported to England circa 1690-1698. National Trust collection at Kingston Lacy Estate, Dorset.

A large garniture, or group, of three Delft blue-and-white octagonal baluster vases, painted in in cobalt blue with figures in the Chinese Transitional style. Panels of warriors and figures are illustrated in rocky wooded landscapes, with a deity among clouds, within elaborate panels of scrolling foliage.

Garnitures are sets of vases in pottery and porcelain with matching decoration produced between 1660 and 1830. They were displayed as ornaments, adorning or ‘garnishing’ a chimney mantel, but they were also displayed above large cupboards and cabinets and over doorways. They are also sometimes called garnitures de cheminée (‘ornaments for a chimney’).

The vases shown here sit on a contemporary Dutch burr walnut cabinet-on-stand with so-called “seaweed-marquetry in the Kingston Lacy House in Dorset, England.

Dutch Delft ceramics were of extraordinary popularity in England at this time, being both less costly and more accessible than Chinese ceramics of the same style. The most expensive Delft faïence enjoyed Royal patronage, including from Queen Mary II.

‘REMUED POTTERY”‘Remued pottery earthenware vases, circa 1940’s.’ Approximately 21cm-high.Two earthenware vases of ribbe...
10/06/2026

‘REMUED POTTERY”

‘Remued pottery earthenware vases, circa 1940’s.’ Approximately 21cm-high.

Two earthenware vases of ribbed cylindrical form with everted rims, in green and gold drip glaze colours, with applied Kingfishers on one and koalas on the other with a branch decoration, incised marks ‘Remued handmade’, C2 for the Koala vase and C5 for Kookaburra vase.

The 'Remued' range was introduced by Premier in the 1930s and was characterised by its drip-glaze style. Of great influence to the development of this range was the potter Margaret Kerr (1898-1958), who began introducing Australian imagery into pottery design.

‘Remued' was one of Premier's most successful and defining ventures, a feat made particularly remarkable in that it survived the financial strains of the Great Depression.

Credit: Gibsons Auctions, and The Powerhouse.

“When the Boat Comes In.”‘Chelsea figure group of the fish seller and his wife’, modelled by Joseph Willems. Chelsea Por...
09/06/2026

“When the Boat Comes In.”

‘Chelsea figure group of the fish seller and his wife’, modelled by Joseph Willems. Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, London circa 1756-57. 16cm-high. Unmarked to base.

The fishwife is holding their catch aloft while her husband sits at a low table displaying fish. A small basket of fish is hanging beside. The figures are placed on a raised scrolled base applied with gilt, painted flowers and leaves.

Flemish born Joseph Willem came to England in the late 1740s and quickly found fame as a modeller with the Chelsea factory in London. Whilst less spectacular than other more ornately decorated figure groups, here we see two good honest working people of England going about their duties.

Credit: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

‘Kyo-Satsuma vase in double-gourd form with mandarin ducks under cherry blossoms’, Kyoto, Japan. Late 19th-century. Meij...
08/06/2026

‘Kyo-Satsuma vase in double-gourd form with mandarin ducks under cherry blossoms’, Kyoto, Japan. Late 19th-century. Meiji period (1868-1912). 25cm-high. Ashmolean Museum.

This hand-thrown vase was probably made in two parts and luted together with slip, and decorated in polychrome overglaze enamels, including gold.

This delicately hand-painted and decorated vase was expressly manufactured for the British market at the end of the 19th-century. After the European ‘discovery’ of Japan in the mid-1800s, a craze for all things Japanese swept the West.

In Britain, Japanese art was closely associated with the Aesthetic Movement, whose followers aspired to ‘live beautifully’. They created artistic homes that displayed carefully selected artistic furniture and objets d’art.

Japanese and Japanese-inspired items took pride of place. The extraordinary shape of the vase would have attracted great attention and admiration by visitors.

Credit: The Jamel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art, Oxford.

An excerpt from the No. 192 edition of ‘The Ceramic Collector’ newsletter of the Ceramic Collectors Society.The newslett...
08/06/2026

An excerpt from the No. 192 edition of ‘The Ceramic Collector’ newsletter of the Ceramic Collectors Society.

The newsletter is digitally published six-times a year to report on our proceedings and to cover ceramics from all periods and styles. Often this page provides a basis for some of our newsletter content, so no one need miss out!

The 12- to 16-page publication is emailed to our financial and honorary members, over sixty in number, six-times a year. Starting as an occasional printed flyer in 1949 it was only issued in print for many years and sent by post to members. It is now exclusively published as a PDF attachment to an email which can be printed-off in colour or black and white.

This keeps costs and membership fees low and ensures the continued financial success of our society. Digital engagement with our members and Followers is the key to to our future, alongside our annual programme of six talks delivered in Sydney, Australia to our members.

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Our 459 Facebook Followers are an international band of people, very astute in their appreciation of ceramics, and they form an important part of our success. Thank you.

More here:

Webpage: https://www.ceramiccollectorssociety.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceramic_collectors/

Membership applications welcome.

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PO Box 1 DARLINGHURST Post Office
Darlinghurst, NSW
1300

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