neil guthrie

@nguthrie.bsky.social

2333 Followers 352 Following

Collector. Antiquary. The Material Culture of the Jacobites (2014). Guthrie’s Guide to Better Legal Writing (2017, 2021). Trustee, George R Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto

Obverse: the Archangel Michael subduing the Devil in the form of a serpent. Inscription: SOLI DEO GLORIA (‘To God alone the glory’). Pierced for suspension, as is typical

Over the course of three Society meetings from January 26th, 1775, the diplomat, archaeologist, volcanologist and antiquarian Sir William Hamilton FSA communicated an account of the recent discoveries at Pompeii. His papers were illustrated with a series of gouache paintings by Pietro Fabris, a painter of English and Italian descent. Fabris had accompanied Hamilton on his travels to volcanic sites at Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and Lipari. Engravings of these drawings were made by the Society’s engraver, James Basire, and published in ‘Archaeologia’ along with Hamilton’s text. They appear drab and grim in comparison with the vibrant plates shown here, bathed in bright Italian light.

Hamilton’s work on the volcanoes was published in Naples in 1776: Campi phlegræi. Observations on the volcanoes of the Two Sicilies as they have been communicated to the Royal Society by Sir William Hamilton …. This magnificent folio included 54 dramatic scenes of eruptions, sweeping landscapes, and plates of volcanic rock specimens. Fabris’ attempts at illustrating geological specimens are inexpert, but many of the landscapes have a compositional flair reminiscent of the art of Claude Lorraine and Salavator Rosa, underscored by the new aesthetic of the Sublime in the spectacle of observed volcanic eruptions.

There were several subsequent editions of Campi phlegræi, but the very scarce first edition has always been the most admired and highly-prised. The supplementary volume, illustrating an eruption of Vesuvius in 1779, is so rare that only four other libraries in the world are known to possess a copy.

The Society’s set of Campi phlegræi was donated by Hamilton (who had been elected a Fellow of the Society in 1772); the supplementary volume was added in 1782. The books remain in their original 18th-century paper boards and leather backings, and together constitute one of the most sumptuous publications in the Society’s printed collection.

Obverse, George looking left, bareheaded with natural hair, in cuirass and mantle. Legend: GEORGIVS P . S . S . C . D 1799 ('George Prince High Steward of Scotland Duke of Cornwall'). Reverse, crowned cruciform escutcheons of his father's realms (Great Britain, France, Ireland, Hanover) around radiate Garter badge; crowned Prince of Wales's feathers in alternate angles. Legend: BR . L . PR . E . REG . SC . PR ET . SEN . COR . DVX ('Electoral Prince of Brunswick & Luneburg, Prince and High Steward of the Kingdom of Scotland Duke of Cornwall')

Hard-paste porcelain, original gold mounts. H. 4.6 cm, W. 9.3 cm, D. 7.3 cm
From the French Porcelain Society newsletter: 'The ... snuffbox is, to our knowledge, unique. Its decoration combines carefully observed fish with fantastical sea monsters, juxtaposing the empirical study of nature with the imaginative world of myth. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, richly illustrated natural history books and engraved zoological series circulated widely throughout Europe, providing artists with a rich repertory of marine imagery. These publications frequently intermingled carefully observed fish with legendary sea monsters, reflecting an era in which empirical observation and inherited tradition coexisted. The decoration of the box draws upon this visual culture, combining motifs from printed sources into a remarkably inventive composition. The exceptionally refined miniature painting demonstrates the technical and artistic sophistication achieved by Meissen's porcelain painters in the mid-eighteenth century.'

Hard-paste porcelain, original copper-gilt mounts
H. 4 cm, W. 7.5 cm, D. 5.7 cm.
From the French Porcelain Society newsletter: 'The ... box celebrates the fashionable French card game Comète. Originally known as Manille, the trick-taking game adopted its new name after the spectacular appearance of Halley's Comet in 1682, reflecting the widespread fascination with the celestial phenomenon. Interest in the game was renewed after the comet's predicted return in 1758, first observed by the farmer and amateur astronomer Johann Georg Palitzsch just outside Dresden, confirming Edmond Halley's celebrated calculations. Meissen's painter linked this enthusiasm for astronomy with courtly leisure: the lid depicts an elegant company playing Comète, while the interior shows fashionable figures observing the blazing comet through telescopes. A particularly revealing detail is the inclusion of the Nine of Diamonds, known as la comète, within the comet itself, demonstrating the painter's precise knowledge of the game's rules. Only five examples of this subject are currently known, and the Wadsworth's appears to be the most elaborate and finely painted.'

Circular barometer in a wooden case painted green with bunches of gilt wooden fruit above. On top of the barometer, an oval frame with ribbons in gilt wooden fruit, enclosing a porcelain plaque with a painting of a putto. Below the barometer, the frame encloses an oblong porcelain plaque with the thermometer and two more porcelain panels with putti. H. 102 cm, W. 28 cm. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. Inv. no. 2328.

Gilt wood table on four tapering neo-classical legs. Gilt bronze mounts surrounding side panels of blue and white porcelain. On the table-top a large oval porcelain plaque framed in gilt bronze with two smaller, round plaques and a blue porcelain border. H. 73 cm, W. 67 cm, D. 39 cm. Inv. no. 2267. Photograph: Carlos Azevedo

Bowl mounted to faceted and fluted shaft with globular knop; gilt studs, faceted jewels, and gilt rondel engraved with cross. Raised multi-foil foot with cherub border. Gilt bowl rim and interior. French and Dutch import marks. Very good condition.
Dimensions: H 7 1/2 x D 4 3/8 in. Weight: 10.8 troy ounces

Painting of the white, crenellated and crocketed gothick structure built by Horace Walpole, framed by trees with blue sky and clouds behind, an expanse of green lawn in the foreground. I uploaded the image when I bought the case on the Fine Art America website.

Catalogue: The Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, Prelate's Badge, 87mm including Bishop's Mitre suspension x 57mm, fine-worked gold and enamel, circa 1783-85, in a ornately gilt-blocked red Morocco leather fitted case, small area of green enamel loss to shamrock centre through wear, good very fine and a great rarity. [enamelled portion consists of a green shamrock with a crown on each leaf, against a red saltire, the whole within a blue circle with QVIS SEPARABIT (‘Who shall separate’) and the date MDCCLXXXIII edged in gold with little green shamrocks. Above the circle, a bishop’s mitre in gold, no enamel. Plain back. ]

From the Dictionary of Irish Biography entry on Rokeby: '... the sixth son of Sir William Robinson (1675–1720), landowner, of Rokeby Park, Greta Bridge, Yorkshire, and Anne (d. 1730), daughter of Robert Walters of Cundall, Yorkshire. Robinson was educated at Westminster School before matriculating at Christ Church, Oxford, on 13 June 1726, where he formed an important friendship with his future patron George Stone (qv), archbishop of Armagh (1747–64). Robinson graduated BA in 1730 and MA in 1733 (and was awarded the degrees of BD and DD in 1748). He embarked upon a career in the church, where his rapid rise through the ecclesiastical ranks was facilitated by aristocratic and court connections; his younger brother, General Sir Septimus Robinson (1710–1765), was governor from 1751 to 1760 of two of George III's younger brothers (the dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland), and in 1760 was made gentleman usher of the black rod, an influential position which he held until his death. These circumstances were to play a crucial role in Robinson's appointment to the see of Armagh.'

Dealer’s description ‘An 18th-century, circa 1740, Chantilly soft-paste porcelain snuff box with gold mounts (tested as 18 carat), decorated in Kakiemon colours, with chinoiserie scenes, unmarked. Note: Gold mounts are rare. Most Chantilly snuff box mounts are either gilt metal or silver.’
Measurements
Diameter: 6 cm (2.4 in)
Height: 3.5 cm (1.4 in)
Depth (front to back, including mounts): 6.5 cm (2.6 in)
Side view. White porcelain with a rock and foliage in pale turquoise

Cover of Thomas Leonard-Roy, Writerly Hate in Eighteenth-Century Britain (OUP, 2026) with a hand-coloured engraving of Dr Syntax asleep in his library by Thomas Rowlandson. The doctor, bewigged and dressed in black, dozes in a red armchair beside a table with books in it, bookshelves in the background. Above him flutter little figures with human heads, tadpole tails and open books for wings

Dealer's description:
Round and girdled bowl on raised foot mounted to square base with splayed leaf-capped volute-scroll terminals. Cover domed with flower-bud finial. Leaf and shell-capped bracket side handles with lion-head mounts. Tubular horizontal spout terminating in goose head; scallop shell twist-tap with patera mounts. Gadrooning. Engraved armorial. Finial has pierced plug that can be lifted to release steam. To same end, detachable liner is pierced. Detachable tubular well holds heating. Overall dimensions: H 14 1/2 x W 16 3/4 x D 15 1/2 in. Heavy weight: 168 troy ounces.

Small (about 2.5 cm/1 in across) rectangular box with pink sides. On the white enamel lid, a transfer print engraving of a scroll bearing the words ‘A Token of Esteem’ in script, propped against a covered neo-classical urn at the base of a tree. In the background, there is view of a church with a spire. The lid is edged in brass. Probably made in Staffordshire and intended for snuff

Catalogue:
One of only four believed known. The first civilian prize to be awarded in America still to exist
James Creighton (1751-1822), was a New York-born lawyer and Loyalist who graduated from King’s College in 1770.
Silver Hand-Engraved Prize Medal, 1770, attributed to Elisha Gallaudet, awarded to James Creighton (1751-1822), COLLEGII REGALIS NOVI EBORACI IN AMERICA PRÆMIUM LITERARIUM IACOBO CREIGHTON | IN • LUMINE • TUO • • VIDEBIMUS • LUMEN •, college seal designed by Reverend Samuel Johnson, with maternal figure of Alma Mater seated on throne at centre, surrounded by three infants, whom she teaches from book in outstretched hand. Radiant sun rises behind. Scroll reads "God's Light" in Hebrew and "God" in Hebrew in radiant border above. 1ST. PET . II . I . 2, in exergue, signature below, rev. EXIMIO • JUVENI • PROPTER • INSIGNES • IN • ARTIBUS • PROGRESSUS, Minerva standing holding spear, presents medal to a student dressed in academic robes, 1770 A.D. below, 33.56g, 64.5mm (Columbia Medals Collection, 5/227), small edge bruise and general light surface marking, otherwise a skilfully executed hand-engraving, with a pleasing old-cabinet tone to lustrous surfaces, extremely fine and of the GREATEST RARITY, this being only the fourth known example and only the third named to a recipient.

Large famille rose fishbowl, 61 cm (24 in) high, 58.4 cm (23 in) across. White porcelain painted with a continuous fenced garden scene with flowering tree peonies and weathered garden rocks, songbirds perched in the trees. Two lion-mask handles at the shoulders.

Alternating S- and C-scroll rim interspersed with scallop shells. Well has engraved leafing and flower scroll surround; centre vacant. Three hoof supports. Fully marked including maker’s stamp attributed to Thomas Hannam (or Hammond) and John Carter, and London assay stamp.

Ceramic bin label with curved shoulders, straight bottom and hole at the top for suspension. Glazed white reverse with ‘Burgundy’ written in ink followed by the mystery words

One is 1 inch (2.54 cm) high, the other 1 1/8 inches (2.85 cm)

White porcelain plate with loved edge, painted with a naturalistic leafed branch with fruit, a butterfly and a fly in blues, pale red and pink, pale green. The epitome (perhaps the acme) of English culture, I think.

JANE IN VAIN by Paul Jennings (1918-1989), published in the Sunday Observer, 1957
I often get lost in the works of Jane Austen
For Jane is my favourite writer:
Suave and satirical, Jane is a miracle,
Who subtler than Jane and who lighter?
With eloquent diction unequalled in fiction
Her characters meet and commingle,
Unlike, say, the martyrs of Camus or Sartre,
So anguished, so lonely – so SINGLE.
Though nil is the ration of bedroom and passion,
When Crawford runs off with Maria
Their sex-life, off-stage in that elegant age,
May still be assumed to have fire.

Dealer’s description
Straight sides with a pierced colonnade alternating with ovals, one solid and without engraving, the others open and inset with a patter. Pointille and swag borders. Beaded rims and moulded bases. Stained wood well with typical carved concentric rings.

[I say ‘or workshop’ because Hester Bateman farmed out a lot of work, frequently at the expense of quality (although these coasters look nice - wish I could afford them at U$4,500!)]

Mustard pot with handle (no lid; would it have had one?) and oval lobed stand (tray) in soft-paste porcelain, overglaze enamels and gilding. Pale blue ground with white panels containign sprays of flowers and a butterfly in the central panel. Marked with interlaced Ls and date mark A for 1754)

Figure of a recumbent cat with a very satisfied expression, incised fur and manganese markings, its front paw resting upon a mouse, the rockwork base splashed in brown, yellow, red and manganese.

Penguin edition (1983) with an aquatint of a lady in a pale blue riding habit, sidesaddle on a capering chestnut mare. From Heideloff’s Gallery of Fashion (1797-98)

Black basalt ceramic urn with scrolled handles flanking a central classical figure in high relief, possibly depicting Apollo, set atop a socle and square plinth. The cover has a ball finial and laurel & berry banded rim. Some restoration and imperfections.

Title page with engraving of the Sheldonian Theatre

Ti-diatheke m-beri khen ti-aspi nte ni-remkhemi Hoc est Novum Testamentum Ægyptium vulgo Copticum ex MSS. Bodlejanis descripsit, cum Vaticanis et Parisiensibus contulit, et in Latinum sermonem convertit David Wilkins...
Oxonii [i.e. Oxford]. E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1716. First edition.
Quarto. [8], XL, 676pp. Text in parallel columns of Coptic and Latin. First six words of title transliterated from the Coptic. With an engraved title page. Modern cloth, rebacked. Rubbed and marked. Hinges reinforced, library label of the General Theological Seminary to FEP, with their blind-stamps to title page, leaf N6 and terminal leaf, nineteenth century ownership inscription to verso of FFEP, some marginal loss to leaves B3-4.

Obverse: bust of William, Duke of Cumberland, in armour, looking right. Signed on the truncation T. PINGO. Inscription: GVLIELMVS DVX CVMBRIÆ

2 volumes, large folio (522 x 354mm). Contemporary mottled calf, sides with double gilt ruled border filled with gilt roll and small acorn tools, fleurons gilt to corners, spines with raised bands in seven compartments gilt, black morocco lettering-pieces, all edges red (spine rebacked to match with original labels laid down, corners restored, lightly rubbed at extremities). Provenance: George Nassau Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper (1738-1789; engraved armorial bookplates with motto 'Tuum est’ on pastedowns).

First page of Daniel Haas Kianička, 'Allegorical Depictions and Inscriptions on the Bratislava Coronation Medals of Charles III from 1712', The Medal 88 (spring 2026), 18-27.

Catalogue: On laid paper, one with crossbow watermark , the others without watermark. Fine, early impressions of the only states with small margins, generally in good condition. Plates 140 x 175 mm. (and similar). Sheets 149 x 187 mm. (and similar).

Here, Death (in the form of a skeleton), seated on the ground with a large book in his lap. To the left, figures grouped around a block of masonry look at him intently, a skinny dog to the left with greater wariness.

Tacky souvenir plate. White pottery with a central blue transfer print of the Loyalist monument in Hamilton, Ont. (man and woman with two small children standing in a group, wearing 18C clothes and anxious expressions). Around the edge: FOR THE UNITY OF THE EMPIRE

Catalogue:

Mark of Edward Power, also struck with the mark of Edward Twycross, as retailer, Dublin 1826
Of campana form, with detachable liner and collar, the collar with guilloche borders, the main bodies with profusely chased with foliate garlands, with applied cast acanthus leaf border, each side with embossed scrolling cartouches surmounted with eagles, to one cartouche with engraved inscription:
Presented by the Offices of the Constabulary Connaught District much respected & highly Esteemed Inspector General Major George Warburton 1st June 1826', to the other cartouche engraved with the arms of Major George WARBURTON (1777 - 1845), with applied foliate handles, to the lower belly with profuse chased with foliate scrolling, raised on a knopped stem to a spreading circular base with embossed acanthus leaf caps, height 28.8cm, weight 104oz.

The exterior painted probably by J.G. Horoldt with trappers, a basket of fruit, a deer and a fox and others with fish and a fox. Their clothes are trimmed in fur in estuary landscape with enriched Böttger-lustre, iron-red, gold and buff cartouches, with indianische Blumen between. The interior has two Chinoiserie figures beside a fence and a pagoda by J. E. Stadler. The rim has gilt scrolls. Hard-paste porcelain with Böttger lustre, overglaze enamels, gilding. Dimensions: 8.2 x 15.5 cm (3 1/4 x 6 1/8 in.)

Catalogue:
General Picton’s Medal for The Relief of Gibraltar (1783), marking the successful holding of the Rock by the British garrison after a siege by the Spanish and French in 1782. The obverse of the silver medal by Lewis Pingo shows an aerial view of the Bay of Gibraltar, with the fleet to the upper right. To the reverse is an inscription celebrating the victory written across 17 lines within a laurel wreath, a lion holding the Gibraltar coat-of-arms above cartouche below. This 59mm diameter medal is very rare and in nearly extremely fine condition.

Catalogue: ‘Study of a male Nude [actually just shirtless; he has some sort of drapery around his middle] wielding a Hammer[.]
red chalk on light brown paper
7 ½ x 7 ¼ in. (19.1 x 18.4 cm.)’

Dealer’s description
Oval bowl on stepped and same foot. Bright-cut garland interspersed with three patera-inset open rondels and fourth sold rondel engraved with script monogram; between pointille and pierced leaf borders. Beading. Cobalt glass liner. Fully marked. Very good condition. One liner has tiny nick. Dimensions: H 2 1/2 x L 4 1/4 x W 2 1/2 in. Total weight (silver only): 8.5 troy ounces.

More of Hester Bateman’s frankly average work ;)

Painted by Mathieu Fouré with trailing flowers issuing from diagonal pink ground panels edged in gilding shaded in brown and from a pink-ground border edged with gilt scrollwork, the bases with pierced scrollwork panels, gilt trellis panels and further panels with flowers, gilt dentil borders to the rims, 17.8cm high; 17.8cm wide, interlaced LL monograms in blue, the stands with date letter E and painter's mark oe for Fouré in blue, incised marks (4)

Three-quarter-length, in the livery of the Markeaton Hunt (scarlet waistcoat, blue coat, buff breeches), holding a hat, with a terrier at his side. Gilt wood frame with scrollwork

Obverse: bust of James, looking left, hair high and long, lovelocks, in armour, and mantle fastened with brooch on the shoulder. Inscription: IACOBVS III D G M B F ET H REX. Below, N R [Norbert Roettiers, the medallist].

Bust, looking right, wearing cuirass and mantle. Wig tied back in a queue, hair curled at the temples. On each side of the oval plaquette there three rivets securing the rear horseshoe-shaped mount, below a ring for suspension. Approximately 12cm high, 8cm wide

Catalogue: ‘Of the first size, painted in pink camaieu with birds in landscapes and birds in flight, gilt dentil borders to the rims, the cover applied with flower finial, the cup: 9.8cm high; the saucer: 14cm diam., interlaced LL monograms and painter's mark & in blue, incised S to saucer’

Penguin edition (1983) with a stormy painting of Lyme Regis on the cover, seen lying on the orange hammock in my balcony with a black and white patterned throw

Catalogue: ‘Modelled as the head of a Turkish gentleman, wearing a fur-lined turban with feathers, his moustachioed face delicately picked out in colours, the interior [not shown] painted with colourful flowers and a green leaf border, 7cm long’

Catalogue description
Circular, the centre of the detachable cover with a perpetual calendar on black champlevé enamel within a square cartouche, beneath a crest, all within translucent green, red and yellow champlevé enamel arabesque foliate scrolls, incorporating bird masks and floral garlands, the outer border enamelled in black with the Easter Table within nineteen cartouches, each on a black enamel ground within coloured enamel and engraved scrolling foliate scroll and shell borders, the base with five mathematical tables for the prediction of the Sunset, High Tides, Moonlight, and two for the Equation of Time, all on a black ground surrounded by coloured enamel arabesque foliate scrolls and with a bird with wing's displayed above the central panel, with reeded rims, plain sides and gilt interior, apparently unmarked

3 3⁄8 in. (8.5 cm.) diameter

Catalogue: ‘Decorated with a textile pattern of vertical bands of a floral garland against a puce dotted ground flanked by foliate bands alternating with an undulating blue ground band heightened with foliate gilding, the covers applied with flower finials decorated with gilding, 9.4cm high, incised marks’

Dealer’s description:

Made by John Parker and Edward Wakelin in London in 1759. Bellied oval with lobed ends and raised foot; flying scroll side handles leaf-mounted and wrapped. Fully marked. Very good condition.
Dimensions: H 4 5/8 x L 8 1/2 x W 5 3/4 in. heavy weight: 20 troy ounces.

Catalogue: ‘Of baluster form, modelled in the shape of an owl with modelled wings and tail feathers, the cover forming the head, the glazed chestnut-red body strikingly trailed and dotted in dark brown and cream coloured slip representing the bird's eyes and plumage, its breast and face marbled in the same coloured slips, its talons gripping the spreading circular foot, the reverse applied with a loop handle, 23.5cm high’

Watercolour and ink drawing on paper. Bust of a man with a rather disgusted scowl on his face; he wears a periwig and Roman armour. The bust is shown within an alcove in a larger architectural surround: columns on either side, framed by volutes and scrollwork; arms above the niche with drapery hangng from the escutcheon to frame the niche; on top of the pediment, a large flaming urn flanked by pairs of shorter obelisks, also flaming; below the niche, a blank cartouche (for a funerary inscription) surrounded by scrollwork

Auction catalogue:

Probably Liverpool, painted in blue to the interior with the laurel-wreathed head of the Duke of Cumberland above the inscription 'Success to ye Duke', the exterior with flowering plants, insects and a bird in flight [not shown], brown enamel rim, 26cm diam

The distinctive laurel-wreathed bust of William, Duke of Cumberland appears on three similar punch bowls, all with slightly different inscriptions, referencing the Hanoverian cause. These include an example sold by Bonhams on 10 June 2003, lot 67, inscribed 'D W For Ever', another in the British Museum, inscribed 'Confusion to the Pretender 1746', and a third illustrated by Leslie B Grigsby, The Longridge Collection of English Slipware and Delftware, Vol.2 (2000), p.346, no.D313, inscribed 'No Pretender 1746'.

Museum description: Woman's outer robe (uchikake) with pine, bamboo, and plum design around 1700-1750, Japan
Silk rinsu damask with shibori resist-dyeing, embroidery, and padded with cotton wadding
ROM 949.49 Gift of Louise Hawley Stone
This outer kimono was likely worn by a bride.
The garment is covered in pine, bamboo, and plum patterns for good luck. The raised textures all over the soft, silk fabric are created with embroidery (green and gold threads) and shibori tie-dye (clusters of fine dots).
It is possible this garment was handed down from mother to daughter through generations, and that the fine, textured details hold and evoke memories of all the celebratory occasions when it was worn.

Me: orange silk with mostly pale pinky yellow embroidery, draped over a headless mannequin to show it as worn, back to the viewer. Displayed against an orange wall with a pattern of yellow lights reflected in to the wall behind

Auction catalogue:

Probably Lambeth, London, painted in blue with a spotted cat playing a fiddle as a line of four mice dance to his tune, flanked by sponged trees and birds in flight above, 36cm diam

The only other known delftware dish of this design has a blue-dash rim and was in the Longridge Collection, sold by Christie's on 24 January 2011, lot 36. See also Leslie B Grigsby, The Longridge Collection of English Slipware and Delftware, Vol.2 (2000), p.171, D144.

The 'Hey Diddle Diddle' nursery rhyme likely postdates this dish. However, the amusing scene of a cat musician would have been recognisable , indeed 'The Cat and Fiddle' was a popular tavern name. One such public house 'Le Catte cum Le Fydell' in Bucklersbury, in the City of London, was inherited by future Member of Parliament John Gardiner, circa 1549.

Ovoid white porcelain dish with four round lobes, decorated with flowering branches in blue, red, and pale green with a characteristic brown and red Chantilly beetle off to one side

Catalogue: ‘A head and shoulders self-portrait of Venetain painter Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682-1754), the frontispiece portrait from 'Icones ad vivum expressae', accompanying 14 portraits engraved by Giovanni Cattini after Piazzetta. The first edition was published by Pasquali in 1743, who reprinted them in 1754 with Latin numerals on the 14 portraits, and again in 1763; in 1767 they were republished by Teodoro Viero with a new publication line. The original drawing is at Windsor (inv. 0754).’

Auction catalogue description:
A very rare Worcester trade token, circa 1768-82

Of circular form, printed in black with the inscription 'I promise to pay the bearer on demand two shillings, W. Davis's, at the China Factory, the reverse moulded in relief 'WPC' for Worcester Porcelain Company, 3.1cm diam, with a felt-lined stand.

Trade tokens were an attempt to address the problem of a shortage of circulating coinage. The Worcester factory issued them in two denominations, their sizes mirroring those of the 1 shilling and 2 shilling coins that they represented. See John Sandon, The Dictionary of Worcester Porcelain (1993), p.339-40

Dealer’s photo. Zeppelin-shaped upright footed crystal bottle with faceted sides and stopper, silver mount John Schofield at the shoulder with a pointed rim for the stopper; the spoon, by William Abdy, is attached to the base of the stopper and hangs inside the bottle

Modelled in the form of a ripe melon, in variegated shades of green and soft yellow. Conceived in two interlocking parts, featuring a fitted cover surmounted by a raised, twisting stem that terminates in large serrated leaves spreading across each end. White interior (not shown). Meissen crossed swords mark in blue on the base. Dimensions: 5 in. (12.70 cm) high; 6 1/4 in. (15.88 cm) wide; 4 in. (10.16 cm) deep