While the French artist Jean Cocteau was the headliner at a dedicated sale held at Bonhams in Paris, the German-British ceramist Hans Coper was crowned with success during an auction jointly organised by Phillips and Maak in London. The results brought new records for both artists and confirmed, once again, the popularity of ceramics at action.
On 21 October, Paris was the scene of the sale 'Jean Cocteau: l'Orphée moderne', a sale entirely dedicated to the work and heritage of a man of many talents, who claimed to above all be a poet, “because all work is poetic”. The sale offered a panorama of Cocteau's vast production, from photographs to studies, portfolios to posters, paintings to letters, as well as ceramics. Of the 137 lots presented, 74% of them found a buyer, bringing the total for the sale to €645,694 (£542,250).
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One of the big surprises was undoubtedly the sale of Jean Cocteau's Bélier deux faces (Two-sided ram), an incredible 1958 terracotta vase that sold for €47,812, including fees (£40,150), setting the world record for a ceramic by the artist. The edition of this original edition from Atelier Madeline-Jolly was initially planned to be thirty copies, but was reduced to twenty at the request of Cocteau. Measuring 40 x 29 cm, the partially-glazed pink terracotta and grey-blue encompassing vase presents two ram's heads on each side, the appearance of which differs mainly thanks to the orientation of the handles, which constitute the horns of the animal. Very representative of the avant-garde and playful style of Jean Cocteau, the work was presented alongside other ceramics by the artist, including a glass vase made in collaboration with Egidio Costantini.
Bonhams also recorded high prices for the Cocteau works Deux visages de profil, L’Adolescent plus Portrait de Picasso-cubiste, a signed drawing from 1917. "We are delighted with the results of this sale which showcased the full breadth of Cocteau's expansive oeuvre and lasting legacy," said Lucia Tro Santafe, Sales Manager. "Cocteau was always experimenting and creating new forms of art, and it is wonderful that this new dedicated concept sale at Bonhams recently expanded Paris saleroom was such a success. I'm pleased to say that Bonhams has established itself as the market leader for Jean Cocteau, especially for his ceramics."
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On the other side of the Channel, it was the ceramicist Hans Coper who stood out during the dispersal of the collection of the New York art dealer Dr. John P. Driscoll, held on 10 November. The six flagship lots in the catalogue were all signed by Coper, and, according to Phillips, the artist's record was surpassed twice in the auction. The artwork Coco de mer, a monumental ovoid pot from 1968, set a new record at £520,000. The previous record was set at £305,000 at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood in 2018 for the work Arrow Head.
"During the sale we saw the record for Hans Coper broken a number of times, once in a 15-minute bidding war for his monumental ‘Writhlington School’ pot, which achieved seven times the low estimate [£440,000 hammer price], and again for his monumental ovoid pot, which sold for eight times the low estimate," commented Ben Williams, consultant at Phillips.
Arriving in England at the end of the 1930s, the young German Hans Coper made his debut in the studio of Dame Lucie Rie. He became an excellent ceramist and founded his own workshop in the 1950s. He has since been considered one of the leaders of British ceramics of the twentieth century, along with his famous teacher.
The sale of the Dr. John P. Driscoll collection set a total of 28 auction records for studio ceramists including Bernard Leach, James Tower, Michael Cardew, Richard Batterham, Alison Britton, Akiko Hirai and David and Janet Leach.
