4th Mar, 2025 10:00
Better by Design | The Principal Contents of Boden Hall
169
Two Sadler teapots
c.1930, each modelled as a racing car, impressed '820236',
10cm high,
an Art Deco Sadler racing teapot,
with a printed nursery design by Mabel Lucie Attwell,
10cm high, and
a model of a coach,
with silvered highlights,
10cm high (4)
Provenance: The Vicky Wrather Collection of Teapots.
The Vicky Wrather Collection of Teapots
'Fearful Consequences through the Laws of Natural Selection and Evolution of living up to one’s teapot'… inscribed on the base of the celebrated Royal Worcester 'Aesthetic' teapot.
When my brother gave me my very first teapot in my early twenties, little did I know quite where it would lead! He and I had been brought up in a vegetarian household - which at the time was unusual, and we have both remained lifelong veggies - rarely also consuming alcohol. So, when he gave me that first teapot (he was at school at Dartington at the time and I think paid ten old pennies for it at Totnes market) he said, 'well, you don’t drink anything else much apart from tea, so I’ve bought you this' and my addiction to tea for the past fifty years has remained pretty much the same.
As I love tea as a beverage so much and have enjoyed in my travels discovering all sorts of exciting infusions, a natural progression has been for me to become interested in teapots themselves and to form a collection, particularly if they are novel in their design.
At one time I had over four hundred novelty teapots, all displayed in purpose-built cabinets at Boden Hall, which years ago had featured in a local Stoke-on-Trent newspaper and this editorial led to several readers writing to me, telling me how they had been employed at Sadler’s or wherever in the Potteries, doing either modelling or decoration. As a result, I have it from the horse’s mouth that the silver resist on the novelty motor car teapots only features on 'firsts' with no silver resist on 'seconds'!
I hope that my teapots give as much pleasure to future generations of collectors and/or those who just want a fun brew!
Victoria Wrather
January 2025
£100 - £200
Buyer's premium: 30.00% (inclusive of VAT, where applicable)
IN PERSON
To bid in person at auction for the first time please register for a bidding paddle in advance by filling out and submitting a registration form at our front desk. When registering in person we require photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence.
ABSENTEE BIDDING
If you cannot attend the auction in person we can bid on your behalf. You can leave an absentee bid on our website.
The amount you bid should be your maximum bid. We will bid up to that limit for you, and remember you may end up paying less than your limit, depending on other bidding on the day.
You can leave an absentee bid up to half an hour before the start of any sale. Please note when we receive two or more absentee bids for the same amount, the first bid received will be the one taken.
LEAVE COMMISSION BIDS ONLINE
If you would like to leave a commission bid on our website you can do so up until 30 minutes before the sale starts. Leaving a commission bid through sworder.co.uk is free for all registered clients. Thereafter you may register bank card details under your account in order to bid live. Click here to register an account.
BID LIVE ON sworder.co.uk
You can bid live at our auctions from the comfort of your home or office using bidding platform Sworders Live. It is easy to register and you can watch the auction live as it happens. A 'Bid Live' button will appear on the auction on our website homepage when a sale is live; simply click the button to sign in or register with your card details. There is no additional charge for this service.
For further instructions on registering to bid live, please click here.
TELEPHONE BIDDING
If you would like to bid by telephone please contact our team prior to the auction with your details of the lots you are interested in and your full name, address, telephone number(s) and email address. Once our team have entered your bid request you will receive an email confirmation. We will contact you during the sale and one of our team will bid live with you over the phone.
Please note that we normally offer this service for lots with an estimate of £500 or higher and all telephone bid requests must be received by close of business the day before the auction.
Auction: Better by Design | The Principal Contents of Boden Hall, 4th Mar, 2025
We are exceptionally excited to present our next auction Better by Design | The Principal Contents of Boden Hall.
This sale offers a carefully curated selection of period furniture, objects and fine paintings featured in this sale. Housed within the historic walls of Boden Hall and its expansive 70-acre grounds, the pieces reflect a thoughtfully crafted harmony of timeless elegance and modern comfort. Amongst the sale are some exceptional artworks by Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA, Dorothea Sharp (1873-1955) and Harold Harvey (1874-1941), beautifully crafted furniture and works of art, and an expansive collection of automobilia, live steam and scale models and even novelty teapots.
'For them, Boden was a dream come true. A blank canvas onto and into which they could project their vision, and enhance and place their growing collections.'
- Tim Wonnacott FRICS | January 2025
Viewing
London Viewing | Highlights
A selection of lots will be on view Monday 10 - Friday 21 February (weekdays only) at our London Gallery, 15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ, as follows:
Monday-Friday, 11am - 6pm
Saturday - Closed
Sunday - Closed
For more information, please contact 0203 971 2500 | london@sworder.co.uk
Stansted Viewing | Auction
Viewing will be held at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE, as follows:
Friday 28 February, 10am - 4pm
Sunday 2 March, 10am - 1pm
Monday 3 March, 10am - 4pm
All lots are, however, extensively illustrated and carry detailed condition reports - see 'Condition report' at the foot of each lot description.
The auction will take place at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE.
Full Terms & Conditions relating to our auctions can be found here
Please select the shipping destination;
Buying a pre-loved, antique, or vintage item not only provides you with unique style and value for money but it also helps to reduce landfill, and the annual emissions of an antique or vintage piece can be as little as one sixteenth of those of its new equivalent!
Sworders is proud to be supporting the work of Antiques are Green - the movement that was founded in 2009 to promote “a greener future created from the past”. Read their fascinating carbon footprint study of a Georgian chest of drawers versus a modern equivalent here
Request A Valuation
Here at Sworders, we are happy to offer a free online valuation service. Please fill out the form and press the 'Submit' button below.
To help us with your valuation please attach clear photographs of the item where possible. You can submit up to 5.
Approximate dimensions are also useful. Expect to hear from the appropriate valuer as soon as possible.
