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Two English delftware 'Merryman' plates, one dated 1721 image 1
Two English delftware 'Merryman' plates, one dated 1721 image 2
Offered in support of Art Fund
Lot 144

Two English delftware 'Merryman' plates, one dated 1721

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

Sold for £4,096 inc. premium

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Two English delftware 'Merryman' plates, one dated 1721

Comprising a polychrome example inscribed in red '(4) With wine & Merry Jests. 1721', within a blue and green wreath, 22.8cm diam, the other inscribed in blue '2 Leet him do what he can' within a formal cartouche of stylised leaves, the rim with blue line borders, 22cm diam (2)

Footnotes

Provenance
Professor F H Garner Collection
Sotheby's, 23 October 1968, lot 152 (dated)
With Archibald Frith Allbrook (dated)
David Zeitlin Collection (dated)
With Jonathan Horne, March 1990 (dated)
Graham Slater Collection

Illustrated by Lipski and Archer, Dated English Delftware (1984), p.79, no.313C alongside others from the same original set. Merryman plates were made in sets of six, each with one line from a well-known drinking verse. Dated examples range from 1682 to 1752, illustrating the popularity of the sentiment. A set dated 1734 is illustrated by Frank Britton, London Delftware (1987), p.143 and an earlier one of 1717 by Louis Lipski and Michael Archer, Dated English Delftware (1984), p.76.

Additional information

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