Lot 86
A very rare Chelsea toilet box and cover circa 1760
14 April 2010, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £6,240 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistA very rare Chelsea toilet box and cover
circa 1760
Of circular form with gilt metal mounts, probably painted by Jefferyes Hamett O'Neale, the cover with two horses and a goat, a bear raiding a beeskip on the interior, the sides of the box with panels of sheep and cattle reserved on a mazzarine blue ground, a floral spray inside and a spray of fruit on the underside, 8.8cm diam, unmarked (base broken and restuck, slight wear to gilded borders) (2)
Of circular form with gilt metal mounts, probably painted by Jefferyes Hamett O'Neale, the cover with two horses and a goat, a bear raiding a beeskip on the interior, the sides of the box with panels of sheep and cattle reserved on a mazzarine blue ground, a floral spray inside and a spray of fruit on the underside, 8.8cm diam, unmarked (base broken and restuck, slight wear to gilded borders) (2)
Footnotes
The painting on the exterior of the cover relates to that found on a saucer in the Billie Pain Collection, lot 29 and a small circular dish sold in these rooms on 2 December 2009, lot 38. A bear in exactly the same pose, being attacked by dogs rather than bees, appears on a Worcester vase in the British Museum which is signed on the panel 'O'Neale inv and c'. See Aileen Dawson, The Art of Worcester Porcelain (2007), number 40, p 110. For related decoration on a loving cup and cover, see Margaret Legge, Flowers and Fables (1985), pl 174