Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Lot 63
A Vauxhall cornucopia wall pocket, circa 1754-56
1 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£2,500 - £3,000
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Jim Peake
Head of Department
Fergus Gambon
Director
A Vauxhall cornucopia wall pocket, circa 1754-56
Of faceted form with a plain rim and two suspension holes at the reverse, finely painted in bright blue with a spray and sprigs of European flowers together with a butterfly in flight, 12cm high
Footnotes
Provenance
Simon Spero exhibition, 1990, no.41
Simon Spero exhibition, 2006, no.31
Literature
Massey, R, Marno, F, and Spero, S, Ceramics of Vauxhall, 2007, no.162
White, Mary, Living at the Whites' House, Vol.4, 2023, p.399
The distinctive faceted shape of this wall pocket is unique to Vauxhall and the size significantly smaller than examples made in both pottery and porcelain by other English factories at this time. They would have been issued in pairs and appear to have been produced in just one size at Vauxhall, either with a straight or shaped rim. See the pocket illustrated by Mary White, 2023, p.400 and the example from the Garrick Bond Collection sold by Bonhams on 17 May 2017, lot 239 both with shaped rims. Underglaze blue examples are recorded in three patterns, see that illustrated by Massey, Marno and Spero, 2007, p.88, no.161 and Bernard Watney, 'Four Groups of Porcelain Possibly Liverpool', ECC Trans, Vol.5, Pt.1, 1960, pl.28(e) respectively for the other two designs. Decoration in Meissen style in underglaze blue such as this is extremely rare in early English porcelain.