Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Hutton Collection
Lot 99
A massive London delftware drug jar, circa 1730-40
19 November 2025, 10:30 GMT
London, Knightsbridge£3,000 - £5,000
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Fergus Gambon
Director
Jim Peake
Head of Department
A massive London delftware drug jar, circa 1730-40
Of generous bulbous shape with a spreading foot, fully painted in shades of blue with a label inscribed 'E:DIASCORDIU', surmounted by a basket of fruit and flowers flanked by cherubs playing trumpets, an angel's head below, the reverse decorated in chinoiserie style with large flowering peonies and insects in flight flanking two small vignettes of Chinese figures, including a fisherman in a sampan, a border of pointed pendant leaves or lappets around the foot, 31cm high
Footnotes
Provenance
Hutton Collection
Diascordium was an electuary was made from the dried leaves of the water germander and other herbs. Taken to prevent infection and to aid sleep, it was thought also 'good to stop the Hickup [sic]', John Pechey, The London Dispensatory (1694).
It has been suggested that drug jars of this large size were used for display, and they frequently carry the name Diascordium. A comparable example is illustrated by Briony Hudson, English Delftware Drug Jars (2006), p.185, no.152, and a dated version by Lipski and Archer, Dated English Delftware (1984), pp.388-9, no.1671.