Ultra Rare Troika Fruit Bowl with Fruit

Forget Masks, Love Plaques, Totem Vases and the rest of the 'rare' Troika, this is probably the rarest of all of the Troika pieces to come onto the market in recent years and we doubt you wouldl be able to locate another. This piece is a White Gloss Fruit Bowl which has moulded apples and bananas afixed into the bowl. 

Leslie Illsley originally experimented with casting ceramic apples from moulds taken from real fruit. Being a big fan of The Beatles, Leslie sent four of the single white apples set into a square dish to the Beatles 'Apple Corps Ltd.' HQ at 3 Savile Row in London. Neither Apple nor any of The Beatles acknowledged receiving them, but the rumours that the Apple Studios commissioned Troika to make more these white apples for them is unfounded.

After Leslie abandoned the idea of these ceramic apples, it is believed that Don Fowler, who joined Troika in May 1976 as a caster and fettler, took up the 'Apple Theme' using both the original moulds created by Leslie and experimenting with his own moulds, cast various sizes of apples and also bananas and experimented by mounting single apples into small bowls. He did however make a very small number of these larger bowls with mounted fruit which were notorioulsy difficult to make and fire successfully. The bowl itself would have been taken from post-fired stock, the apples applied, and then the bowl would have been re-fired; evident as the glaze from one of the apples has merged into the body glaze of the bowl in one small area.

This bowl is so very rare because it has no less than five apples in two sizes, and three bananas, all in a slightly irredescent white glaze that is not quite the same white as the titanium white glaze of the bowl. A very subtle shading difference which makes the fruit stand out.

I have only ever seen one other of these, which is owned by the same collector who appeared on the Antiques Roadshow with several of his rarer pieces, the bowl included. Page 55 of 'Troika Ceramics of Cornwall by George Perrot' shows a similar bowl but with only four apples and three straight bananas. There is also a photograph showing a single apple mounted in a hexagonal bowl in 'Troika Pottery St. Ives by Carol Cashmore' (Plate 40) which is part of Don Fowlers personal collection.

When we purchased this piece we were told it has had a small amount of restoration to one of the three bananas. The restoration is so good that we have not been able to determine how extensive any damage was or exactly where the restoration is! It is currently part of our own collection but we are now offering it for sale at a realistic price, considering its rarity.

The bowl is 9½ inches (24cm) wide (excluding the overhanging bananas which is 10½ inches) and stands 3½ inches (9cm) to the rim of the bowl and 5½ inches (14cm) to the highest point on the fruit (the large apple). We believe the Troika base mark is that of Benny Sirota (due to the similarity of the letter contructs) who often signed the white 'Heals' pieces.

Overall, in very good condition with no visible damage, however as described above, there is an area of restoration conducted to an exceptional standard on one of the three bananas.

** Please note that this item is currently reserved **