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Lot 66

A fine pair of engraved decanters and stoppers, dated 1792

21 May 2014, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £7,500 inc. premium

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A fine pair of engraved decanters and stoppers, dated 1792

Of tapering mallet form, with a fluted neck and base and ovoid stoppers, both bodies inscribed 'Liberty or Death', 'Rights of Man' and 'Fox for Ever 1792', and the initials WJC within an 'oxo' cartouche, 29.9cm high (stoppers chipped, minor scratches) (4)

Footnotes

These decanters were produced in support of the prominent British Whig politician Charles James Fox (1749-1806), whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Fox was the third son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland and Lady Caroline Lennox, daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. As a politician Fox was known for his charismatic speeches, a talent he utilised as an anti-slavery campaigner, a supporter of American independence from Britain and a supporter of the French Revolution. He held several government offices, ranging from MP for Midhurst at the age of 19 to Foreign Secretary under Lord Grenville. As Fox gained in popularity and in public recognition, there was a growing market for images and items such as these decanters not only among his intimates and political allies but among the discerning public as a whole.

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