Chateau to cottage
Television’s queen of thrift, Judith Howard, assembled Britain’s finest
collection of porcelain on a budget, writes John Vincent.
It looks a trifle overstuffed, to put it mildly. But this drawing room – and the rest of the house, too – is not jam packed with any old tat but with the very finest French porcelain. And now the treasure-trove of Sèvres, assembled over a lifetime by Judith Howard, a former curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum and, curiously, a TV champion of thrift, has fetched an eyewatering £373,000 at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury, following her death aged 73.
In a way, it’s not surprising that Judith managed to acquire such fabulous pieces on a budget. Even at the age of six, she proved she had a wonderful eye when a dealer said she could keep a cup if she could say where it was made. She immediately identified it as from the Caughley factory in Shropshire.
It was the start of a lifelong passion which saw Judith build up perhaps the country’s finest private collection of Sèvres, the soft-paste porcelain factory founded at Vincennes in 1738 by local craftsmen from the nearby works at Chantilly before
moving to a new site at Sèvres in 1756.
But whereas most stunning collections are housed in museums and stately homes, Judith’s 800 pieces were crammed into the terrace cottage she shared with husband Alvin in Melksham, Wiltshire. Judith’s knowledge stood her in good stead, picking up bargains at antique markets, fairs and from nonspecialist dealers. One such snip was a rare Sèvres campana (bellshaped) vase from 1773, which she bought for £24 in the 1980s. It realised £4,750.
Even better was the sale’s star lot: a cracked Vincennes circular dish once part of a dinner service made for Louis XV. Judith paid just £13 for it but it fetched £31,250 at the 400-lot auction. Other highlights included a Sèvres plate from 1770, made for one of the king’s mistresses (£15,000), and another plate, from 1771, given by Louis to his grandson, the Comte de Provence, later Louis XVIII, on his wedding day (£10,625).
A little more about Judith Howard... collector, scholar, curator, dealer, writer, photographer, bon vivant and TV star. She became an expert on Going for a Song, forerunner to Antiques Roadshow. Then, in 1975, the BBC held a competition to find the nation’s most successful couple at making something out of nothing. Entrants were given £15, on which to survive for a week, throw a dinner party and make clothing and furniture. The Howards won, making them household names and Judith appeared on Blue Peter as well as securing a column in Woman’s Own on how to save money.
It was her experience of belt-tightening prudence that led to the maximalist interior style of her modest home, with her beloved antiques adorning every nook and cranny.