Antiques sale could be just your cup of tea

ONE can’t help but smile when faced with a Shelley ‘Boo Boo’ nursery tea set. Designed in the late 1920’s after a design by children’s illustrator Mabel Lucie Attwell one can understand why it continues to be so popular after nearly a century.

A more grown up teapot comes in the form of a Chinese Yixing (pronounced ‘E-Sing) example. Made from a dense stoneware clay they are almost always left unglazed so that the body can absorb traces of the tea creating a more complex flavour.

They were favoured by travellers and it is rumoured if you treated your teapot well, in times of hardship it would reward you with a sustaining cuppa by the addition of hot water only.

Also with Oriental heritage is a group of 12 small Japanese cloisonné vases and jars, estimated at £80-120 they represent an instant collection for someone or perhaps a years’ worth of Christmas and birthday presents for somebody. Also on offer is a bright oil on canvas of koi carp that has a whiff of the Japanese about it, but in fact is the work of Stoke potter Anita Harris.

Amongst the furniture there is a tidy inlaid mahogany work table with fitted interior that wouldn’t break the bank at £100-150 and for those of you that like to sit out in the sun there is a folding hardwood campaign chair that will allow you marshal your forces in the comfort of your garden.

The Antiques and Interiors Sale takes place on August 3. For more information contact Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood on 01392 413100 or online at bhandl.co.uk.

> 12 small Japanese cloisonné vases and jars

Folding hardwood campaign chair

> Left: Oil on canvas of koi carp

Chinese Yixing teapot