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.

 


Current Bid

ZAR 4 000
Lot 52
  • Linn Ware; Large rectangular dish
  • Linn Ware; Large rectangular dish


Lot Estimate
ZAR 4 000 - 4 500
Current Bid
1 bid
Current bid ZAR 4 000
Location
Cape Town
Delivery
Additional delivery charges apply
Shipping
Condition Report
May include additional detailed images
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About this Item

Olifantsfontein, South Africa 1943-1955
Large rectangular dish

painted LINN WARE

white-glazed earthenware
7cm high, 42cm wide, 29cm deep

Notes

Each piece was handmade and individually double-glazed, giving the work its distinctive and characteristic luminosity for which they became renowned. This particular piece has the off-white palette characteristic of feldspathic glaze, which resulted in a slightly translucent appearance.

View all Linn Ware lots for sale in this auction