Coronation Mug Sells For ‘Astonishing’ £13,500

A rare mug that sat gathering dust for 25 years has sold at auction in Market Harborough for £13,500.

Eric Ravilious-designed Wedgwood mug – commemorating the coronation of King George VI in 1937 – had been in a box in the owner’s loft in Leicestershire since the 1990s.

The inscription on the mug

Following a bidding war, it sold for more than 16 times the expected price at Gildings Auctioneers, after being given a pre-sale estimate of £800.

Auctioneer director Will Gilding said it was a ‘remarkable’ sale, adding: “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.”

The souvenir mug was one of a number in the sale by the prominent British artist, who died in action when his plane went missing during a World War II search and rescue mission.

The mug