Kinghams auctioneers are proud to offer The Allan and Sondra Gotlieb Collection on the 8^th October. Comprising one of the finest collections of William De Morgan tiles held in private hands juxtaposed with fine Victorian paintings and drawings by Simeon Solomon, Sir Edward Coley Burne Jones and Sir Edward Poynter.

It was the exhibition The Earthly Paradise: Arts and Crafts by William Morris and His Circle in Canadian Collections at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) that first sparked Allan Gotlieb - inspired by the iridescence of the ruby lustre ceramics he started to purchase tiles by De Morgan on his frequent trips to the United Kingdom, buying from the three great authorities on the potter,  Richard Dennis, Michael Whiteway and Jon Catleugh.

Allan was a Rhodes Scholar and, for a time before returning to Canada to join the diplomatic service, an Oxford don, he had long nurtured a love of Victorian art in its many forms as well as French art from the same era. Both art and ceramics were romantically displayed around the 'artistic' house, a living collection which extended into the garden inspired by Sissinghurst.