Linn Ware: Celebrating the Ceramics of Olifantsfontein
Timed Online Auction, 2 - 13 May 2025
Session One
About the SessionThis sale features a broad selection of Linn Ware that celebrates South Africa’s rich ceramic traditions highlighting a key moment in the country’s artistic development — during a period when industrialisation and mass production were rapidly transforming the design landscape. The Ceramic Studio, renamed Linn Ware in 1943, was founded on Sir Thomas Cullinan’s farm Olifantsfontein, outside Johannesburg which had rich deposits of clay and lime. It was staffed mostly by women students from the Durban School of Art, several of whom studied further at the Royal College of Art, London. The Studio closed in the late 1950’s but left behind a beautiful body of work that is highly collectable today. Discover more about Linn Ware's fascinating history here.
About this Item
painted LINN WARE
impressed dish stamp
Notes
While emerald green was the most iconic glaze, the Linn Ware studio also manufactured wares in other colours, such as this cream and russet brown iron oxide glaze. Each piece was handmade and individually double-glazed, giving the work its distinctive and characteristic luminosity for which they became renowned. Select pieces like this one, display a fine balance of form, indicating the skill and flair of a talented artisan.
