Fergus Gambon
Director
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Lot 119
An exceptionally rare Bow figure of a Thames Waterman, circa 1755
Amended
23 June 2021, 10:30 BST
London, Knightsbridge£20,000 - £25,000
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An exceptionally rare Bow figure of a Thames Waterman, circa 1755
Modelled standing before a tree stump, his raised left arm bearing an oval armorial Doggett's badge of three anchors, wearing a peaked red and black hat, distinctive pale yellow frock coat lined in pink with red buttons, floral waistcoat, black breeches and shoes, the shaped base painted with two floral sprays, 19.8cm high, paper collector's labels, one probably for the Charles Butler Collection
Footnotes
Provenance
Charles Butler Collection, Warren Wood, Hatfield, Christie's sale, 24 May 1911 (paper label)
Thomas Berners Collection, Bow No.25 (paper label)
Distinguished Private Collection
Exhibited
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
The Waterman is one of the few Bow figures where the modelling is original to the factory and not derived from Meissen, instead depicting an historic event in London. In 1715 Thomas Doggett, an Irish comedian, actor and singer founded an annual rowing race for the Thames watermen held on 1 August. The race between the Swan Inn at London Bridge and the Old Swan at Chelsea was in commemoration of the accession of George I to the throne. The distinctive flowing coat and badge modelled on this figure was the prize. The race was so popular that in 1774 it was the subject of a ballad opera by Charles Dibdin titled 'The Waterman, or the First of August'. The race continues to be held each year in early September and is the oldest rowing race in the world. The model is known with different insignia on the brassard, which were worn as licences by those who operated ferries across the Thames. A few white examples of the figure are known, including one illustrated by Peter Bradshaw, Bow Porcelain Figures (1992), p.74, pl.37. A coloured example is illustrated by Elizabeth Adams and David Redstone, Bow Porcelain (1981), p.199, pl.127 and one in the Victoria and Albert Museum (acc. no. C.80-1938) by Arthur Lane, English Porcelain Figures of the 18th Century (1961), pl.41. See also that sold by Christie's on 3 November 1997, lot 55.
Saleroom notices
Please note that the present figure is not wearing the Doggett's Coat and Badge. The prize of a Coat and Badge was once common in boat races for Watermen. The Doggett's silver badge bears the horse of the House of Hanover and the word 'Liberty' in honour of the accession of George I to the throne and is always displayed on a traditional red coat. Coats of different colours and badges bearing different insignia were awarded to the winners of other races. No surviving Bow figures are known painted with the Doggett's Coat and Badge and the present example represents the winner of a different race.