Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Hutton Collection
Lot 105
A rare English delftware 'Apollo' drug jar, circa 1680-1700
19 November 2025, 10:30 GMT
London, Knightsbridge£4,000 - £6,000
Ask about this lot
Fergus Gambon
Director
Jim Peake
Head of Department
A rare English delftware 'Apollo' drug jar, circa 1680-1700
Of ovoid shape, painted in blue with an extended label inscribed 'U.DIAPOMPH.', surmounted by the radiant head of Apollo flanked by two songbirds amongst foliage, a winged cherub's head and pendent floral swags below, 17cm high
Footnotes
Provenance
Hutton Collection
According to the London Dispensatory of 1694 Unguentum Diapompholigos 'cools, dries, and gives ease, and is excellent for curing ulcers'. This extraordinary concoction included oil of roses, nightshade berries, wax, lead, vinegar and frankincense.
An 'Apollo Head' drug jar dated 1679 is illustrated by Lipski and Archer in Dated English Delftware (1984), p.380, fig.1647. Another undated example with a very similar label Apollo label to the present lot was in the Sampson and Horne Collection sold by Bonhams on 28 April 2010, lot 188.