A couple with huge knowledge of the Arts and Crafts era are leading new Decorative Arts sales at Hansons’ Staffordshire saleroom Bishton Hall.
Retired lawyers Beverly and Mark Forster have had a passion for antiques since childhood. Over the last 30 years they have built up an extensive collection of Arts and Crafts furniture, ceramics, metalwork, books, glass and artwork.
Such is the pedigree of their collection, they have loaned items for public exhibition and Mark gives talks on Morris & Co, William de Morgan ceramics and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “I am delighted to welcome Beverly and Mark to Hansons’ Staffordshire saleroom and look forward to building a strong decorative arts department at Bishton Hall.
“Decorative Arts sales have been offered at our Derbyshire headquarters for several years. Such are their popularity, I feel the time is right to expand this sector. The Forsters offer the perfect skillset to lead this. As well as their admirable knowledge of the genre, their connection to decorative arts dealers and antiques fairs has widened their knowledge to encompass the antiques trade.”
Beverly and Mark will host free Decorative Arts valuations, by appointment, at Bishton Hall with the next event due to take place on March 15 from 10am-1pm.
Mr Forster said: “My interest in history and archaeology can be traced back to my membership of the archaeological society linked to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent. I was their youngest ever member at just eight years of age! Beverly started going to antique fairs with her grandparents as a teenager.
“Our interest in the Arts and Crafts Movement stems from our purchase of a 16th Century property in the early 1990s. Our initial idea was to furnish it with age-appropriate items from the period of its construction. We were in for a shock!
“Several visits to antiques shops led us to a rude awakening. Tudor and Jacobean furniture was rather more expensive than anticipated. At one of our regular visits to the Bowman’s antiques fair at Bingley Hall, Stafford, we got into conversation with an antiques dealer who suggested we looked at furniture from the Arts and Crafts period.
“Constructed by hand and usually in oak, the style harkened back to medieval times. More importantly, these items were far more affordable than original period brown furniture.
“Our interest sparked, we began to research the movement reading about the likes of Morris & Co and Liberty of London. We were soon hooked. At the next Bingley fair, we purchased our first Arts and Crafts piece, an oval Liberty & Co brass mirror with exquisite Ruskin pottery roundels. This item still holds pride of place in our entrance hall, hanging above a handmade oak stick stand by Stanley Webb Davies of Windermere.
“Over the last 30 years we have built up an extensive collection of Arts and Crafts furniture, ceramics, metalwork, books, glass and artwork. We own furniture by the likes of Ernest Gimson, Peter Waals, Arthur Simpson, George Walton, Arthur Romney Green, Eric Sharpe and Stanley Webb Davies.
“Ceramics are represented by William de Morgan, Pilkington, Ruskin, Della Robbia, Maw & Co., Martin Brothers and numerous others. We also have metalwork by the Keswick School of Industrial Art, Newlyn, John Pearson, Hugh Wallis, the Birmingham and Bromsgrove Guilds, and the Guild of Handicraft. Pieces include designs by C F A Voysey, Hugh Baillee Scott, Christopher Dresser and C R Ashbee.
“Working alongside Charles Hanson to establish a decorative arts department at Bishton Hall offers us an exciting new direction.”
Mark and Beverly Forster will offer valuations at Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Staffordshire, ST17 0XN, from 10am-1pm on: 15 March, 17 May, 21 June, 16 August, 20 September, 18 October and 15 November. To book an appointment, email Gill Finney: [email protected]
If you have an Arts and Crafts piece, or collection, you are considering selling, email [email protected] for free, impartial advice.
