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Lot Essay
The form of the present mortar is identical to that used by Abraham Rudhall I, of Gloucester (c.1680), who was a staunch Royalist. The ornamental devices are extremely similar to the enamelled bosses found on pewter chargers of the period, and may have been cast from such a pattern.
A similar mortar was sold in these rooms, The John Fardon collection, Christie's South Kensington, 1 May 1996, lot 219, and later resold in Christie's Great Rooms, A Collection of Important Early Oak Furniture and Metalware, The Manor House, Bramcote, Nottingham, 24 May 2001, lot 343.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Peter Hornsby, English Decorated Mortars, Collector's Guide, January 1990. It is uncertain whether these mortars cast with the Arms of Charles I predate the Civil War, it is possible various founders cast them after the Restoration.
A similar mortar was sold in these rooms, The John Fardon collection, Christie's South Kensington, 1 May 1996, lot 219, and later resold in Christie's Great Rooms, A Collection of Important Early Oak Furniture and Metalware, The Manor House, Bramcote, Nottingham, 24 May 2001, lot 343.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Peter Hornsby, English Decorated Mortars, Collector's Guide, January 1990. It is uncertain whether these mortars cast with the Arms of Charles I predate the Civil War, it is possible various founders cast them after the Restoration.