Bid for a unique Emma Bridgewater bunny
A sculpture designed by the most famous and collectable pottery company in the UK is to go under the hammer next month to raise funds for a North East charity.
To mark its 40th anniversary and raise awareness of its work, St Oswald’s Hospice organised a free public art trail of 96 individually decorated Peter Rabbit™ sculptures across Newcastle and North Tyneside this summer.
And, when the sculptures which formed Peter Rabbit™: Tales on the Tyne go up for auction at Newcastle Civic Centre on Tuesday 13 October, one may be very familiar to fans of British pottery designer Emma Bridgewater Ltd.
For Peter in the Garden was not only inspired by the traditional spongeware pattern on its latest collection but the Stoke-on-Trent company played an active part in creating it.
Emma Bridgewater’s Head Designer, Sophie Gilmour, collaborated with North East artist Jina Gelder to bring the original spongeware design to life on the sculpture.
And, inspired by Beatrix Potter’s original Painting Book, four little rabbits – Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter - are hidden amongst sweet geraniums and radishes.
Along with the sculpture, the winning bidder for Peter Rabbit in the Garden will receive a selection of official Emma Bridgewater products, including pottery items, tea towel and garden bunting, from the Emma Bridgewater X Peter Rabbit™ Collection.
Steph Edusei, Chief Executive of St Oswald’s Hospice, said Peter in the Garden “is not only a beautiful piece of work, but it carries the prestige of being a completely unique Emma Bridgewater Ltd item.
“We are enormously grateful to Emma and her team for taking part in Peter Rabbit™: Tales on the Tyne and can’t wait to meet the lucky person who gets to take Peter in the Garden home.”
Other lots up for auction include large and medium sized sculptures – not all of which featured on the trail - along with a Snowdog sculpture, in tribute to the Hospice’s Great North Snowdogs event in 2016 and a special, book bench-themed sculpture.
And a final celebration weekend is being held at the Civic Centre from 10–11 October, offering visitors one last opportunity to see the sculptures in one place before they are auctioned.
The auction catalogue can be viewed at www.talesonthetyne.co.uk/auction and tickets for both the celebration weekend and the auction are now available at: www.talesonthetyne.co.uk/events. For those who can’t attend in person, there is an option to register and bid online.
