Ceramic mug toasting King George VI's coronation sells for princely sum

A ceramic mug commemorating the coronation of King George VI has sold at auction for a princely £13,500 after spending 20 years gathering dust in a loft.

The 87-year-old souvenir cup was designed by British artist Eric Ravilious for Wedgwood to mark the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. Adapted from a previous version intended to mark King Edward VIII taking the throne before his abdication, the design features celebratory fireworks and the royal coat of arms.

It is said to be a rare example because of its unique yellow and green detailing which had sat undisturbed in a box in the vendor’s loft since the late 1990s. The mug was given an estimate of £800 when it went under the hammer at Gildings Auctioneers in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, on Wednesday.

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But it smashed its estimate and sold to a private buyer for £13,500 - more than 16 times its guide price. Gildings director Will Gilding said: “We’re thrilled to achieve this astonishing result for this very special mug which although highly collectable, is still intrinsically just a mundane household item.

“We were unable to find any other examples of this particular colourway, which also has a slightly differently shaped rim to the other mugs in the sale, so this one may well be unique. As a result, we knew it had the potential to soar far beyond its guide price. But for the hammer to go down at £13,500 is truly remarkable and just goes to show the magic that can happen when two determined collectors identify a must-have treasure."

The cup was from a collection of five of Ravilious’s 1937 Wedgwood coronation mugs. Three of the mugs in more commonly seen but still sought-after turquoise, blue and pink-based colourways sold for £270, £360 and £2,700 respectively. Another blue version made for the planned coronation of Edward VIII fetched £480.

Born in 1903, Eric Ravilious was a highly regarded Sussex-based painter, designer, book illustrator and wood engraver. He is best known for his modernist watercolour interpretations of English landscapes and World War II scenes, some of which are displayed in the Imperial War Museum in London.

In December 1939 Ravilious became an official World War Two war artist with the rank of Honorary Captain in the Royal Marines. On September 2, 1942, he joined one of three aircraft dispatched on a search and rescue mission for a plane that had failed to return to RAF Kaldadarnes in Iceland.

The aircraft he boarded also failed to return, and he and the four-man crew were recorded as lost in action four days later, making him the first of three British war artists to die in active service during World War Two. Will added: “This vanishingly rare example of a striking design by a renowned artist who suffered a tragic wartime death was sold in very good condition given its age and ceramic nature.

“Such is the power of its scarcity, and the demand for works by Ravilious, this high quality but relatively inexpensive souvenir has taken on a previously unimagined value several decades later. When I brought the gavel down, I think everyone in the room felt like we needed a cup of tea to calm us all down – not least the buyer - but in a slightly more affordable mug.”