Fergus Gambon
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Lot 236
A very rare Lowestoft inkwell, circa 1790-95
23 June 2021, 10:30 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £8,287.50 inc. premium
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A very rare Lowestoft inkwell, circa 1790-95
Of slightly waisted circular shape, pierced at the shoulder with four pen holes, the central raised well everted at the rim, inscribed in blue with 'A Trifle from LOWESTOFT' within a foliate scrollwork cartouche, a flower spray and two sprigs to the reverse, the shoulder with a band of simple floral sprigs between plain line bands, a cross-hatched border below the interior rim, 7.3cm high
Footnotes
The Lowestoft 'Trifles' were made as gifts from Lowestoft and other local towns and villages. All are inscribed by the same hand, likely to have been that of Robert Allen, see Geoffrey Godden, Lowestoft Porcelains (1985), pp.146-7. Most are painted in coloured enamels and only a small number are recorded in underglaze blue. The slightly waisted cylindrical form appears to be the last in the progression of shapes of Lowestoft inkwells, see Sheenah Smith, Lowestoft in the Norwich Castle Museum, Vol.1 (1975), pp.134-5. A 'Trifle' inkwell of the same form also inscribed in blue from the Rev R C Wheeler Collection was sold by Bonhams on 23 April 2008, lot 227, and another from the Henry Levine Collection is illustrated by Godden (1985), p.181, pl.225. Compare also to the toy teapot and cover from the Godden Reference Collection sold by Bonhams on 30 June 2010, lot 144 and the small mug or can sold on 3 November 2016, lot 251 which both bear similar inscriptions in blue. For a polychrome 'Trifle' inkwell of similar form see that from the Brian Wood Collection sold by Bonhams on 14 November 2018, lot 397.