Bonhams 1793 : A pair of South Staffordshire enamel cassolettes, circa 1765-75

Of urn shape, modelled in three sections with interchangeable tops reversing to form either finials or candle nozzles (one top replaced), the deep green ground reserving finely-painted panels of rustic figures attending to animals before distant farm houses and buildings, framed by dark blue scrollwork picked out in gilding, applied with gilt metal goat head handles clutching wreaths in their mouths, the cylindrical pillar plinths on stepped feet highlighted with a guilloche pattern in blue, 30cm high (some restoration) (4)

Estimate:

£1,800 - 2,200
US$ 2,700 - 3,300
€2,100 - 2,600

Footnotes

Provenance: The Mort and Moira Lesser Collection. A pair of very similar pink ground cassolettes on matching cylindrical bases is illustrated in Rackham's Schreiber Collection catalogue, Vol 3 (1924), no 240, pl 10. Another pair of the same form from the Untermyer collection is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. A further pair on square bases with a turquoise ground is illustrated by Therle and Bernard Hughes, English painted Enamels (1951), p 140, fig 76. A landscape panel from this pair is identical to one from the present lot

Category: Decorative Arts / British Ceramics

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