
Fergus Gambon
Director
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Sold for £3,825 inc. premium
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Head of Sale
Provenance
Bonhams sale, 10 September 2008, lot 340
Twinight Collection
Illustrated by John Sandon, Worcester Porcelain (2009), front cover. The fine quality of the painting, delicate neoclassical gilding and coloured 'jewelled' borders are characteristics of a remarkable series of cabinet cups, all painted by Thomas Baxter. Matching decoration is always applied to cups of the same shape, the different reserved panels showing the wide range of subjects that spilled from Baxter's brushes.
Mirza Abul Hassan was a Persian diplomat first sent by the Shah to England in 1809 to negotiate a treaty between Great Britain and Persia. During his stay, he became a figure of much fascination. In January 1810, Charles Lamb wrote to his friend Thomas Manning that 'The Persian ambassador is the principal thing talked of now.' His portrait was painted by both Sir William Beechey and Thomas Lawrence. A plate painted with the same subject, attributed to John Pennington, was sold by Phillips on 7 March 2001, lot 243.