Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Lot 185
A very rare Chelsea asparagus tureen and cover, circa 1755
19 November 2025, 10:30 GMT
London, Knightsbridge£8,000 - £12,000
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Fergus Gambon
Director
Jim Peake
Head of Department
A very rare Chelsea asparagus tureen and cover, circa 1755
Naturalistically modelled and coloured as a bunch of asparagus spears in shades of green and puce, tied with brown raffia bands at each end, the stem of one spear forming the handle, 19cm long, red anchor marks, numeral 65 to tureen and 48 to cover (2)
Footnotes
Provenance
Christie's, 15 December 1975, lot 146
With A J Filkins, December 1975
Highly naturalistic tureens such as this epitomise the creativity of the Chelsea factory in enhancing the tromp l'oeil effect. The 1756 Chelsea sale catalogue lists 'two fine bundles of asparagus and plates', First Day's Sale, 29 March 1756, lot 15. A similar tureen is illustrated by F Severne Mackenna, Chelsea Porcelain: The Red Anchor Wares (1951), pl.77. no.156 and another by Margaret Legge, Flowers and Fables (1984), p.57, no.95. A pair was exhibited by Albert Amor in the Golden Jubilee Exhibition, June 2002, no.1. See also the pair of asparagus tureens from the Dr Sidney and Susan Merians Collection sold by Sotheby's New York on 22 October 2010, lot 19 and the pair sold on 21 November 2014, lot 483.