Lot Essay
The Bucks Society was founded in circa 1723 and was strongly based in Liverpool until its demise in or shortly after 1802. It was at its height between 1750 and 1780. Four services were known to have been made for this Society, of which the present lot is the earliest. The arms on this service were copied from those used by the Order before 1757, when James Sadler engraved a design which was used on subsequent services. See D. S. Howard, op.cit., p.452 (top) for a bowl from this service. The second service was made for the Noble Order of Bucks in circa 1758, ibid., p.273; the third was made in circa 1760 and decorated in grisaille, ibid., p.452 and David Howard & John Ayers, op.cit., vol.II, p.426, no.427 where a bowl is illustrated together with a Liverpool mug. The fourth service, which appears to have comprised an enamelled tea-service, was also made in 1760, ibid., p.452; an example from this last service is in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, nos. 56.46.87 a and b.