When we mention the work of the Martin Bros we’re usually talking about their delightful ‘grotesques’ that have been bringing top auction prices for a couple of decades, but this time it’s something altogether more sophisticated in the spotlight. The recent UK sale of a private collection of Martin Bros pottery included a shouldered-form vase of quite traditional shape, although its decoration – of sea creatures, seaweed and crustaceans in sgraffito, from the Aquatic series – was on the characterful side. Last sold at auction in 2011 for $19,000, in early February it made a whopping $68,000. Another conventionally shaped piece from the same series, this time a jar and cover dating from October 1896, sold for $46,000 after having last sold at auction just six years ago when it made $24,000. Both pieces had featured in the 1978 exhibition The Martin Brothers Pottery at Sotheby’s Belgravia. ‘This sale underlined the interest in the broader output of the Southall studio,’ noted a report in the UK trade newspaper Antiques Trade Gazette, adding that strong bidding in the art pottery sector signalled a promising start to the year.
Martin Bros Pottery is well-known for its eccentric creations, the work of four brothers: Robert, Walter, Edwin and Charles. Robert modelled the figures, Walter fired the kiln, mixed the glazes and threw the pots, Edwin was chief decorator and Charles ran the shop, although his approach was unorthodox: he hid his favourite pieces under the floorboards and often turned away prospective customers. The firm was known for producing Victorian art pottery at its best, with a range that encompassed whimsical, comical and sometimes entirely Gothic domestic and decorative wares. A 1913 copy of The Times newspaper noted that: ‘Someday, collectors will ransack the town for Martin’s artistic stonewares,’ words which have proven prophetic.
