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A Staffordshire table base group of the 'Ale Bench', circa 1830 image 1
A Staffordshire table base group of the 'Ale Bench', circa 1830 image 2
Lot 106*

A Staffordshire table base group of the 'Ale Bench', circa 1830

23 June 2021, 10:30 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £2,805 inc. premium

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A Staffordshire table base group of the 'Ale Bench', circa 1830

Modelled as a colourfully dressed couple seated on yellow high-backed chairs, draining the contents of the cups held in their right hands, a beer jug on the red table between them, before bocage and a turreted building forming spill holders, the mottled table base embossed with foliate swags, titled 'ALE BENCH' twice, 21cm high

Footnotes

Provenance
James and Timmey Challenger Collection, Chicago

The aftermath of this drinking scene is shown on a companion model of the same title, where the table and vessels lie upturned and the husband and wife are at each other's throats. A third group titled 'Tee Total' shows a responsible, happy family having tea and cake. These groups document contemporary concerns centred around drunkenness and domestic violence threatening respectability, especially amongst the middle classes. All of these models are illustrated by Rosalie Wise Sharp, Ceramics, Ethics and Scandal (2002), pp.106-7. See also Myrna Schkolne, People, Passions, Pastimes and Pleasures (2006), pp.170-3.

Additional information

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