Jim Peake
Head of Department
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Lot 151*
A very rare Bow model of a red squirrel, circa 1760-65
29 September 2020, 10:30 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £25,062.50 inc. premium
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Fergus Gambon
Director
A very rare Bow model of a red squirrel, circa 1760-65
Naturalistically modelled, the near life-sized animal seated on its haunches gnawing at a nut clasped in its front paws, an impressive tail arched along its back, its fur simulated with fine brushstrokes of enamel in tones of brown and red, the scrolled base applied with flowers and leaves, raised on four scroll feet picked out in puce and pale green, 21.3cm high
Footnotes
A very similar pair of Bow squirrels is illustrated by Frank Stoner, Chelsea, Bow and Derby Porcelain Figures (1955), pl.110, in which the only discernible difference is the lack of applied flowers to the bases. An earlier version of this model was also made at Bow, circa 1752-54, see the example exhibited by Simon Spero, 2012 exhibition, no.16. This in turn seems to be based on a white Chelsea model produced during the Triangle Period. An example from circa 1746 is in the British Museum (accession no. 1887,0307,II.7), illustrated by Elizabeth Adams, Chelsea Porcelain (2001), p.35, fig.3.20, who suggests that it probably derives from a Meissen original. Another was sold by Sotheby's on 9 April 1999, lot 289.
The modelling of the present lot is somewhat fuller than the Chelsea examples, with more detail rendered in the paws and tail together with the addition of a scroll base. A model more closely resembling the Bow version, with a similarly bushy tail and upright ears, was produced in creamware, see the example in the British Museum (accession. no. 1887,0307,H.42). Miniature versions of this model were also produced at Bow, see for example that from the Billie Pain Collection sold by Bonhams on 26 November 2003, lot 38.