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A London delftware pill slab, circa 1785 image 1
A London delftware pill slab, circa 1785 image 2
Offered in support of Art Fund
Lot 132

A London delftware pill slab, circa 1785

15 April 2025, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £8,960 inc. premium

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A London delftware pill slab, circa 1785

Probably Mortlake, of octagonal shape, painted in blue with the full arms of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, with unicorn supporters, the motto OPIFERQUE PER ORBEM DICOR in manganese on a scroll below, pierced for suspension, 30cm x 24.3cm

Footnotes

Provenance
With Jonathan Horne, 1993
Graham Slater Collection

Fragments similar to the present lot were found in the Museum of London's excavations at Mortlake within a context datable to 1775-1800, see Sloane, Hoad, Cloake, Pearce and Stephenson, Early Modern Industry and Settlement (2003). A very similar example from the S J McManus Collection that was inscribed in diamond point on the reverse 'J Butler 1785' supports this date range. It was sold by Bonhams on 12 November 2014, lot 16 and is illustrated by Lipski and Archer, Dated English Delftware (1984), p.392, fig.1682.

Additional information

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