Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Lot 187
A Worcester hexagonal vase and cover, circa 1758-60
1 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£2,000 - £3,000
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Jim Peake
Head of Department
Fergus Gambon
Director
A Worcester hexagonal vase and cover, circa 1758-60
Of gently tapering form, the high domed cover with mushroom finial, painted in blue with the 'Fancy Bird in a Tree' pattern, a long-tailed bird perched on a flowering branch alternating with panels of oriental foliage issuing upwards towards the shoulder of the vase where shaped panels with oriental landscapes are reserved on a dense foliate and diaper ground, the cover similarly decorated, 37.5cm high, 'TF' workman's mark on cover, crossed swords and numeral mark to base (2)
Footnotes
Literature
White, Mary, Living at the Whites' House, Vol.4, 2023, p.362
Vases of this type are amongst the most prestigious Worcester productions decorated entirely in underglaze blue. The inspiration is late 17th century Japanese Arita porcelain, the so-called 'Hampton Court' vases. However, the Meissen-style mark to the underside of the base suggests that Worcester may have been copying later Meissen versions. Chelsea also made a similar shape in the 1750s, see lot 99 in this sale, although the high domed covers are a feature particular to Worcester and allow adequate space for the border design to be repeated and give an overall more balanced effect.
A similar vase and cover from the Geoffrey Godden Collection was sold by Bonhams on 30 June 2010, lot 68. In the 1760s and 1770s Worcester reissued this shape in richly enamelled and gilded patterns, often with a Kakiemon inspiration or palette. See the two examples illustrated by Ayers, Impey and Mallet, Porcelain for Palaces, 1990, pp.202-203, figs.200 and 201. The earlier blue and white versions were made in a single size of hexagonal vase with matching cover, while the same pattern was also used on one other large vase shape, and on a massive jardinière.