Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
Lot 79
A rare Bow model of a red squirrel, circa 1760
1 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £4,000
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Jim Peake
Head of Department
Fergus Gambon
Director
A rare Bow model of a red squirrel, circa 1760
The near life-sized animal naturalistically modelled seated on its haunches, gnawing at a nut clasped in its front paws, an impressive tail arched along its back, its fur simulated with fine brushstrokes of enamel in tones of brown and red, the scrolled base applied with flowers and leaves, raised on four scroll feet picked out in puce and green, 19.9cm high
Footnotes
Provenance
Simon Spero exhibition, 2012, no.49
Literature
White, Mary, Beasts at the Whites' House, Vol.1, 2020, p.123
Exhibited
London Ceramic Circle, 2012, no.49
A version of this model on a plain base was made at Bow several years earlier, see for example that exhibited by Simon Spero in 2012, no.16. Bow likely based theirs on a white Chelsea model produced during the Triangle Period, see the example in the British Museum (inv. no.1887,0307,II.7) illustrated by Elizabeth Adams, Chelsea Porcelain, 2001, p.35, fig.3.20, which in turn is probably derived from a Meissen original. The modelling of the present lot is somewhat fuller than the Chelsea examples, with more detail rendered in the paws and tail together with the addition of an elaborate scroll base. A model more closely resembling the Bow version, with a similarly bushy tail and upright ears, was produced in creamware, see the example in the British Museum (inv. no.1887,0307,H.42). Miniature versions were also produced at Bow, see for example that from the Billie Pain Collection sold by Bonhams on 26 November 2003, lot 38.
A very similar pair of Bow squirrels is illustrated by Frank Stoner, Chelsea, Bow and Derby Porcelain Figures, 1955, pl.110, in which the only discernible difference is the lack of applied flowers to the bases. John Bowcock's Memorandum Book notes 'Mr Fogg to have one pair of coloured squirrels' on 24 July 1756, indicating that the model would have originally been issued as one of a pair.