Collection of Studio Pottery Found in Attic Sells all 41 Lots
On Monday 17th November 2025, our Single Owner Collection of Studio Pottery Auction sold all forty-one lots for a total of £48,790 (hammer price).
The highest lot came in at £7,000 (excl. VAT and buyers’ premium), which was Dame Lucie Rie’s porcelain shallow-footed bowl under manganese glaze (pictured below). Closely following this, also by Rie, was a white stoneware elliptical bowl, again with a manganese exterior, which went under the hammer at £6,000.
Lot 34 | Dame Lucie Rie, a shallow-footed bowl, hammer price £7000.
There was strong bidding from around the world, including Japan, the USA, and France, and plenty of interest in the room from collectors who travelled to our Exeter saleroom.
The collection of twentieth century studio pottery was acquired by Eric Yates-Owen, who wrote the first and most extensive reference work on British Studio Pottery Marks, in collaboration with Robert Fournier.
With several pieces by Dame Lucie Rie and Hans Coper in collaboration, and others by Janet Leach, some of the principal pieces were purchased by Yates-Owen from the collection of artist Robin Tanner. The auction also included a significant archive, including letters from potters confirming their marks and techniques, and correspondence between Hans Coper and Robin Tanner, along with a signed and annotated first edition of Yates-Owen’s book.
This collection came to us almost by chance, as a different auction house had been at the property when the granddaughter of Yates-Owen called Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood to ask us to look at some boxes she found in the attic.
