Ceramic coronation mug sat in attic fetches 'remarkable' amount at auction

The bottom of the 'rare' ceramic mug
-Credit: (Image: Gildings Auctioneers)


A ceramic mug that was stored away in an attic for 25 years has been sold for a “remarkable” amount at auction. A private collector secured the Wedgwood mug for £13,500, nearly 17 times more than the pre-sale estimate of £800, during an auction at Gildings Auctioneers in Market Harborough.

Designed by the British artist Eric Ravilious, to commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937, the mug features celebratory fireworks and the royal coat of arms. The mug is said to be a “particularly rare example” from a collection of five Ravilious coronation mugs which had sat undisturbed in a box in the vendor’s loft since late 1990.

Three of the other mugs in the collection, based in turquoise, blue and pink colours, sold for £270, £360 and £2,700 respectively. Another blue version made for the planned coronation of Edward VIII, before his abdication, fetched £480.

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A picture of the yellow coronation mug
Gildings director, Will Gilding said: 'This vanishingly rare example of a striking design by a renowned artist who suffered a tragic wartime death was sold in very good condition' -Credit: Gildings Auctioneers

Sold at an Fine & Decorative Art sale on Wednesday (September 25), Gildings director, Will Gilding, said the result was “astonishing” after a bidding war broke out between the eventual buyer in the room and online bidders. Mr Gilding said: “We were unable to find any other examples of this particular colourway, which also has a slightly differently shaped rim to the other mugs in the sale, so this one may well be unique.

“As a result, we knew it had the potential to soar far beyond its guide price. But for the hammer to go down at £13,500 is truly remarkable and just goes to show the magic that can happen when two determined collectors identify a must-have treasure.”

Born in 1903, Eric Ravilious is best known for his modernist watercolour interpretations of English landscapes and World War II scenes, some of which are displayed in the Imperial War Museum in London. In December 1939, Ravilious became an official World War II war artist with the rank of Honorary Captain in the Royal Marines.

A collection of five of Ravilious’ 1937 Wedgwood coronation mugs which had sat undisturbed in a box
A collection of five of Ravilious’ 1937 Wedgwood coronation mugs which had sat undisturbed in a box -Credit:Gildings Auctioneers

On September 2nd, 1942, he joined one of three aircrafts dispatched on a search and rescue mission for a plane that had failed to return to RAF Kaldadarnes in Iceland the day before. The aircraft Ravilious boarded also failed to return, and he and the four-man crew were recorded as lost in action four days later, making him the first of three British war artists to die in active service during World War II.

Will Gilding said the mug was a “vanishingly rare example” of a “striking design” by Ravilious. Mr Gilding said: “Such is the power of its scarcity, and the demand for works by Ravilious, this high quality but relatively inexpensive souvenir has taken on a previously unimagined value several decades later.”

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