Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Lot 51
An exceptional St James's (Charles Gouyn) white figure group of Europa and the Bull, circa 1750-52
1 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£15,000 - £20,000
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Jim Peake
Head of Department
Fergus Gambon
Director
An exceptional St James's (Charles Gouyn) white figure group of Europa and the Bull, circa 1750-52
Zeus disguised as a magnificent white bull adorned with a floral garland and recumbent on a rocky base, Europa in flowing robes seated on the back of the beast, gazing lovingly at him as she wraps her arms around his head, a slender tree applied with leaves behind them, 16.8cm high
Footnotes
Provenance
Christie's, 28 February 1994, lot 22
Anton Gabszewicz Collection
Literature
White, Peter, 'Two distinct early Derby white groups of figures and some quandaries', ECC Trans, Vol.25, 2014, p.169, fig.12
White, Mary, People at the Whites' House, Vol.5, 2024, p.219
This charming figure group belongs to a number of St James's groups of classical theme which are thought to have been made as pairs. Europa and the Bull is presumed to have formed a pair with Ganymede and the Eagle, as these two figures are complimentary. Of the eight examples of this group recorded by Arthur Lane and R J Charleston, 'Girl in a Swing Porcelain and Chelsea', ECC Trans, Vol.5, Pt.3, 1962, p.139, three were still paired with groups of Ganymede at the time of publication. The present lot was unrecorded at the time of writing.
Five figure groups are currently in museum collections. They include a candlestick group from the Irwin Untermyer Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no.1971.75.21), illustrated by W B Honey, Old English Porcelain, 1948, pl.2G; a group from the Katz Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (inv. no.1988.785), illustrated by George Savage, 18th-Century English Porcelain, 1952, pl.37c; another in the British Museum (inv. no.1936,0317.1.CR), illustrated by Elizabeth Adams, Chelsea Porcelain, 2001, p.55, fig.5.16; a candlestick group in the National Museum of Ireland (inv. no.610-1909); and a group from the Dr Diamond Collection in The Plymouth Box (formerly Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery). Further examples include a candlestick group from the Rous Lench Collection sold by Sotheby's on 1 July 1986, lot 222 and illustrated by R J Charleston and Donald Towner, English Ceramics 1580-1830, 1977, no.210; and a group sold by Christie's on 12 October 1954, lot 78. Chemical analysis of the present lot was undertaken in 2011 and confirmed that its composition closely resembles early Chelsea, see Peter White, 2014, p.170.