A striking Ruskin Pottery bowl, with A E Jones silver mounts.

Price: Sold

An A E Jones silver bowl or centrepiece inspired by the 16th century English mounted celadon bowl from the collection of New Hall College, Oxford.  The Ruskin Pottery bowl is marked “RUSKIN ENGLAND”  to the base and has a beautiful powdery blue finish.  The Jones’ silver mounts are all fully assayed and date to 1933.  The three straps holding the pottery bowl are hinged to top and bottom so that the bowl could be mounted securely without solder. The blue colour of the glaze works particularly well with the silver.  It’s a gorgeous historicist piece that turns a medieval design into an arts and crafts piece using a deco Ruskin bowl!

Condition of silver and pottery is excellent and original.  There is some “broken fire” (the silver shows as different shades) which is of no significance.  The interior of the bowl shows some minor firing blemishes.  This is a rare Jones design, and even rarer to find in such good condition.

The original celadon and silver mounted bowl was the Property of William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury (c. 1450 – 1532). The Longquan celadon bowl was set with English mounts, the bowl dating to c. 1500, the silver mounts 1500 – 1530. The original bowl would have been regarded an exotic rarity at the time. It is one of the earliest surviving medieval  pieces of its type brought to England soon after its manufacture. William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury (d.1532) presented the bowl to New College, Oxford, of which he was then Warden.

The Jones bowl is from a private collection which includes several other Jones Ruskin pieces I have listed.  I believe it has provenance to Dreweatts auction June 1998 when it sold for £3,200 hammer.

Maker:  A E Jones

Designer:  A E Jones

Date: 1933

Marks: AEJ, Birmingham, “J”

Material: Sterling silver, Ruskin Pottery

Condition: Excellent, see description

Size: 17 cm diameter, 12 cm high

Weight: 730 grams, 25.7 oz (not silver weight, but silver is a good gauge)