Furniture & Decorative Arts

Clars Auctions offers auction valuations and formal written appraisals, consignment, and buying services across the full spectrum of ceramic art. From European faience, American art pottery, and contemporary ceramic sculpture to imperial Chinese porcelain and Japanese studio pottery, our department handles works that span centuries of tradition and innovation.

With a deep roster of collectors, estates, and institutional consignors in Northern California and beyond, Clars brings significant ceramics to market year-round. Whether you are looking to consign a single inherited piece or a comprehensive collection, or to acquire a rare work for your home or portfolio, our specialists are here to guide you through every step.

What We Offer in Our Ceramics Auctions

Our ceramic auctions draw from one of the most diverse selections of any California auction house, reflecting the extraordinary range of ceramic traditions collected and produced in the Bay Area and across the country. We handle works across the following categories:

• Studio Ceramics & American Craft: Clars occupies a unique position among American ceramic auction houses as a Bay Area institution with direct ties to the California studio ceramics movement. The California College of the Arts in Oakland, one of the defining centers of American studio ceramics, shaped generations of artists whose work regularly passes through our salerooms. Our ceramic art auctions have featured significant works by Viola Frey, Toshiko Takaezu, Jun Kaneko, and other major figures of the American craft tradition. This is a category where Clars brings both market expertise and genuine curatorial authority.
• European Ceramics & Porcelain: European ceramic traditions are well represented in our sales, with particular depth in 18th and 19th-century continental and English porcelain. Meissen, Sèvres, Vienna, Worcester, and Wedgwood are among the manufacturers whose works appear regularly, alongside French faience, Dutch Delftware, Majolica, and Palissy ware. Estate collections assembled across generations of California collecting continue to yield significant examples in this category.
• American Art Pottery: The American art pottery movement of the late 19th and early 20th century commands a dedicated collector following at auction. These works bridge the decorative arts and studio craft traditions and are a natural complement to American furniture and Arts & Crafts design collections.
• Decorative & Functional Ceramics: Beyond fine art and collectible categories, Clars also handles significant decorative ceramics, including large-scale garden urns, Chinese export dinner services, and exceptional decorative vessels. These lots are listed in the sales format most likely to reach the right buyer audience.
• Chinese Ceramics: Chinese ceramics auction demand remains consistently strong at Clars, driven by our established collector relationships throughout the Bay Area and our expertise in Asian art. Our sales feature imperial and export porcelain spanning the major dynasties. We also regularly offer scholars’ objects, monochromatic glazed vessels, and later decorative porcelains from private California collections.
• Japanese Ceramics: Our Japanese ceramic auctions encompass the full breadth of Japan’s rich pottery traditions, from refined Edo-period Imari and Kakiemon export wares to the meditative simplicity of Bizen, Oribe, and Shigaraki stonewares favored in the tea ceremony tradition. Contemporary Japanese studio ceramics, including works by Living National Treasure artists and their successors, also appear in our sales and draw interest from both specialist collectors and design-focused buyers.

Consign Your Ceramics at Clars

Bay Area private collections have long been a productive source of exceptional ceramics at auction. Northern California’s history as a center of both Asian art collecting and the American studio craft movement means that significant works regularly surface through private consignors, estate executors, and institutional deaccessioning.

Whether you have inherited a Chinese porcelain collection, own a significant work by an American studio ceramicist, or are dispersing a larger estate that includes decorative ceramics, our team provides a clear, professional consignment experience with competitive results.

What We Accept
We welcome consignments of ceramics across all traditions, periods, and price points with collector appeal, including:

• Works by significant American and California studio ceramicists
• European porcelain, faience, and earthenware
• American art pottery from major manufacturers
• Contemporary ceramic sculpture by collected artists
• Chinese porcelain and earthenware from all major dynasties
• Japanese studio, tea ceremony, and export ceramics
• Decorative and functional ceramics from estate collections
• Single pieces and full collections

Learn about our consignment process and request a FREE valuation below: