Linn Ware: Celebrating the Ceramics of Olifantsfontein

Timed Online Auction, 2 - 13 May 2025

Session One
About the Session

This 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.

 


Sold for

ZAR 2 345
Lot 19
  • Linn Ware; Vase with folded sides
  • Linn Ware; Vase with folded sides
  • Linn Ware; Vase with folded sides


Lot Estimate
ZAR 2 000 - 2 500
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 2 345
Delivery
Additional delivery charges apply
Shipping
Condition Report
May include additional detailed images

About this Item

Olifantsfontein, South Africa 1943-1955
Vase with folded sides

painted LW

mauve-glazed earthenware
9,5cm high, 19cm wide, 13cm deep

Notes

Each piece was handmade and individually double-glazed, giving the work its distinctive and characteristic luminosity for which they became renowned. Although the deep turquoise glaze was the Linn Ware trademark colour, the pottery also manufactured other colours such as this pale mauve which was created using a mix of manganese, cobalt and iron oxides.

View all Linn Ware lots for sale in this auction