South West Contemporary Auction Preview

Published 11th February 2022

Jason Wason (b 1946) A Raku Fired Stoneware Bowl (CC6/6) offered in our One Day 20th Century and Contemporary Sale starting on 15th February 2022 at our salerooms in Exeter, Devon.

The next Contemporary Sale has a broad and varied offering of pictures, pots and furniture each of which could be the perfect furnishing piece you've been looking for.

Amongst the paintings, there is a summer landscape by Julian Trevelyan (CC06/221) that seems to distil the bucolic feel of the English countryside without making it saccharine. It has a poster like quality to it which is hardly surprising for an etcher and printmaker, whose students included David Hockney and Norman Ackroyd.

Julian Trevelyan (1910-1988): Summer Landscape with Lavender Field (CC6/221).

Another noted artist included in the sale is John Piper who was commissioned pre-war to illustrate the popular Shell Guides to motoring in which he produced countless images of notable British landmarks. Included in the sale is a screen-print of Saltash Bridge (CC06/71) captured at dusk with a bright orange sky that gives it a somewhat Mediterranean feel.

John Piper (1903-1992): Saltash Bridge (CC6/71).

Amongst the more affordable works estimated at £60-90, there is an etching by Tony Price titled 'He closed his eyes for just a moment…' (CC06/104) in which a seated figure misses a dramatic event in a blink of an eye – I am sure it is a sentiment we can all recognise.

Tony Price (Contemporary): 'He Closed His Eyes For Just A Moment ....' (CC6/104).

Jason Wason is a Cornish potter whose rustic vessels (CC06/6) reflect the landscape he lives in, coarse and weathered with an ancient feel about them whilst somehow maintaining a contemporary air.

Another potter for whom landscape is an important influence is John Ward living on the Welsh coast you can see the influence of the sea and sand in his tailed bowl (CC06/155). Notwithstanding the sandy colour the decoration seems to reflect the action of seawater on sand.

John Ward (b 1938): Stoneware Tailed Bowl (CC6/155).

However, if bright decoration is more to your taste then perhaps Bernard Forrester (CC06/153) is your potter of choice. Having worked in the Stoke on Trent potteries, then with Bernard Leach at St Ives and subsequently at Dartington, he became disenchanted with producing large volumes of domestic wares and swore never to make the same thing twice and chose to use a vibrant palette when decorating his work.

Bernard Forrester (1908-1990): Porcelain Vase (CC6/153).

Sir Edwin Lutyens is well known as an architect, but perhaps following in his wake his son Robert Lutyens is less familiar to most. Edwin was responsible for a string of prestigious architectural commissions, amongst them the Rueters Building in Fleet Street London for which his son designed the boardroom furniture. Included in the sale is an Australian black bean wood side table (CC06/345) and eight green leather chairs (CC06/346) that were once formed part of the suite.