Mentioning antique pottery usually makes people think of Stoke-on-Trent, the midlands city nicknamed the Potteries for its long association with the industry.

But ready to trump its illustrious output from the factories of Spode, Royal Doulton and Wedgewood is a collection of porcelain from Lowestoft.

Made at a factory which ran in the town between 1757 and the early 1800s the collection of high- quality pottery is coming up for sale at Reeman Dansie’s auction house in Colchester on June 23.

The collection has been built up by a private collector over 40 years but will now go under the hammer, the whole collection potentially worth around £15,000. Reeman Dansie auctioneer Marc Winter said despite only being available for viewing online from yesterday there had already been a lot of interest in the pottery.

He said: “It has this wonderfully naive quality to it and it is very much collected worldwide.

“It’s rare to find one or two pieces but in the next sale we have got a collection of 60 pieces.”

He added: “It’s perhaps not as sophisticated as some of the better-known factories but that is part of its charm.”

More information about the collection and next Tuesday’s auction can be found at www.reemandansie.com