Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Anton Gabszewicz Collection
Lot 127
An unusual Bow mug, circa 1748-50
19 November 2025, 10:30 GMT
London, Knightsbridge£700 - £1,000
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Fergus Gambon
Director
Jim Peake
Head of Department
An unusual Bow mug, circa 1748-50
Of bell-shape, with a neatly turned foot and generous handle, painted in blue with a continuous Chinese river scene between single line borders, featuring a tall pagoda, 'pylon' tree and pine tree, a sampan sailing in a vast open sea below the moon and simple clouds, the handle with simple geometric motifs, 12cm high, incised 'R' mark
Footnotes
Provenance
Simon Spero Collection, 2018 exhibition, no.18
Anton Gabszewicz Collection
A mug of similar form with a high domed foot but with decoration closely resembling lot 162 in this sale is illustrated by Anton Gabszewicz in 'Bow Porcelain The Incised 'R' marked group and associated wares', ECC Trans, Vol.17, Pt.2 (2000), p.286, figs.37 and 38. Elements of the pattern so naïvely rendered on the present lot are shared on the inkwell inscribed and dated 'MADE: AT NEW CANTON 1750' and a similarly decorated cream jug, both illustrated by Anton Gabszewicz and Jacqui Pearce, 'Bow porcelain revealed: finds from excavations in High Street, Stratford, 2006, Part II', ECC Trans, Vol.32 (2021-22), p.41, figs.76 and 77.
In his catalogue Simon Spero comments on the intriguing combination of the somewhat naïve painting with the accomplished potting and smooth, silky glaze. The decoration also has strong links with a contemporary group of transitional Lund's Bristol or early Worcester wares, see Ray Jones, The Origins of Worcester Porcelain (2018), pp.118-9.