CREDIT CRUNCH CLIFF??? With the demise of Christies from the Clarice Cliff world and Sotheby’s astronomical minimum lot value, Bonhams remains the only central London Auction House to offer Clarice Cliff sales. Their sale of the 23rd September 2008, was therefore eagerly awaited by Clarice collectors and it was interesting to see how Clarice pottery would fare in the present unstable economic climate. The sale had just over 150 lots. The backbone of the sale being the dispersal of two private collections. One was imported from the USA and consequently the hammer prices for these lots attracted the dreaded VAT. The other collection comprised a large collection of cups and saucers. The USA collection was first off the blocks. A superbly painted 356 Vase in Gibraltar made £1600, a rare double Bonjour vase in Newport made £950, both lots reaching the top end of their estimates. A selection of Idyll pattern pieces on very good shapes followed, although most did not do too well in the bidding. The best of the selection was a Stamford Tea for Two that made £2,200 despite hairlines to the Teapot. Ten Lots of Inspiration ware were on offer. The highest prices were £950 for a Persian Lotus and £1500 for a large Meiping Vase in Morning Glory. Many of the pieces in this collection had already been through a previous Bonham’s Auction sale, when they were part of the Louis K and Susan P Meisel sale. One such item was a rare Bon Bon dish in the Mondrian pattern, that sold for £1150 against an estimate of £500 to 700. The USA collection ended with four lots of Sardine Dishes. These are quite rare and very collectable. An example in Blue Autumn made £850 and one in Carpet made £1050, despite a hairline. The second part of the sale included a one owner collection of cups and saucers, which had the advantage of quite a lot of pre sale publicity in the National Press. The collection had obviously been a labour of love for the owner and comprised some rare examples. I wonder however, how many people realised that many of the cups had the wrong saucer. If the bidding was anything to go by, people did not know or they just weren’t concerned. Prices on the whole, where incredibly strong for these Lots. Notable results were £700 for a Mondrian Conical with a hairline, £600 for a Windbells Daffodil shape with restoration, £1200 for a Lightning Conical, £2200 for a globe shape May Avenue and £900 for a restored Tennis Conical. Together with the main two collections, various individual owner pieces were included in the sale. A very badly damaged shape 375 Vase in Applique Lucerne doubled its estimate at £4300. The highlight of the sale was a superb Triple Bonjour Vase in Blue Firs. This is always an expensive shape and here it was combined with an expensive pattern. It was destined to create major interest. It was wonderfully painted and even had a full image to the back of the vase. From an estimate of £1500, it went on to make £5000. The final part of the sale featured some Conical and Bonjour shape Sugar Sifters. These were, unlike many of the previous Lots, sold at quite reasonable (from the buyers point of view) prices. A pastel Autumn Conical made £900 and a restored Windbells Conical made £420. All in all, a very successful sale with a low unsold rate and consistently high prices. Credit Crunch, what Credit Crunch!!! Colin Mawston decodance@yahoo.co.uk